Destined Fate
by TheGirlWhoSawImagination
Summary: (Third in the Midnight Fur Series) Harry and Ginny are back, and prepared to fight! With unexpected allies, the Order, the pack, and the mass-outbreak of Azkaban prisoners, the two of them and the rest of the five in the pack are in for it, whether they like it or not.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

**A/N: I'm back baby! Back for the third in the Midnight Fur Series, Destined Fate; I'm excited too. Originally, I wanted to make the epilogue longer for **_**Escaping the Fire**_**, but I didn't have any more to say. But for this, I have **_**loads**_**. There's just so much to write! So, let's begin, shall we?**

"_The Ides of March quickly approach, like a lamb,_

_The Dark Lord and his followers will return on the night of the final Task,_

_An unknown traitor will cause the emerald and ruby to help raise his Master,_

_The emerald and ruby will regain their spots as King and Queen,_

_And June will succumb to the outbreak.  
August will go out like a lion,_

_Letting the chess pieces to come alive once more,_

_With the final stamp of fate; the old prophecy will start to take place."_

XXX

Books littered the floor in one particular room in Grimmauld Place. Along with the books lay pieces of parchment, feathers, and quills. It was just another day in Grimmauld Place, Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It was just another normal day for Harry and Ginny Potter, ages almost fifteen and almost fourteen. The two teenagers were currently scribbling like mad on pieces of parchment, and some people might actually think they were drawing or writing a book of the sorts. But they weren't. No, Harry and Ginny were currently writing out very detailed letters to the Ministry of Magic. Why? Because there was something dead wrong about something in the news, and the latest edition of the Daily Prophet was currently laying on the floor. The magic newspaper, which had a moving picture of a screaming woman with dark frizzy hair read:

_**MASS BREAK-OUT OF AZKABAN PRISONERS!**_

_On June 20__th__, 1995, hit-wizards and aurors identified that the Dementors that were supposed to be guarding the cells of Death Eaters, murders, and rapists, were not in their usual positions. The Dementors were instead, attacking the hit-wizards and aurors. Seventeen aurors died, as well as twenty hit-wizards, the Ministry of Magic reports. The cause for all of this, well, that however remains a mystery. Ten Death Eaters escaped, as well as seven wizards and witches put in for life because of murdering and raping muggles, the MoM reports. Seventeen convicts out on the loose at this very moment. The ten Death Eaters were known for their killings and use of the Dark Arts, officials say, their leader, You-Know-Who, started the Wizarding World against muggleborns and what they called 'blood-traitors'. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is offering a reward of 10,000 galleons to anybody who can bring in any of the escapees, and 1,000 galleons for information on where the prisoners are. They are, as listed below:_

_**Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange: **__Known for their Cruciatus Curse on former-aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom, causing the two to be tortured to insanity. They were grouped with Bartemius Crouch Jr., who was kissed just this year. Also known for murdering muggles, squibs, and muggleborns; the DMLE is offering a 15,000 galleon reward for each of them, instead of the 10,000 galleon one. Wanted alive, not dead, for questioning; we will not reward anything if either of these two are brought in dead._

_**Atonin Dolohov: **__Known for murdering muggles, wizards and witches who were not followers of You-Know-Who. Also known for murdering Gideon and Fabian Prewett; wanted dead or alive, but an 11,000 galleon reward is offered for those who bring in this convict alive._

_**Mulciber: **__Known for Imperius Curse._

_**Augustus Rookwood: **__A former Unspeakable and spy for You-Know-Who._

_**Travers: **__Known for murdering Marlene McKinnon and her entire family._

Several more names were listed, before the article ended. Harry and Ginny Potter, nee Weasley, had thrown the article on the ground in outrage when they had seen it. Truthfully, neither of them had actually gone down to get breakfast since they saw the newspaper. But both of them were purely enraged. And why would two teenagers be enraged, even if they were wizards? Well, neither of them was even considered normal in the wizarding world. Because, one of the many things about the two of them, they were Soul-Bonded. They shared thoughts, pain, and the scar that had come from Harry's dealings with Tom Marvolo Riddle, now known as Voldemort, when the almost fifteen year old boy was only a year old. But, that wasn't the only thing odd about them. One might think they were normal two normal magical humans, but they weren't. One of them was an animagus, a person who could change into a certain animal at will, and the other was similar to her; he could change into a wolf with midnight fur at will since he was born. He even had the tail from his wolf form when he was in his human one, although you wouldn't ever find him willing to admit it. The two of them even practically radiated magic, and one might say that they could actually taste the magic in the air when these two were nearby. But, Harry and Ginny were just your normal wizard and witch teenagers, once you got all that down. Although, they were truly and madly in love with each other, thanks to the Soul-Bond.

"Damn it," Harry muttered, "Damn it! The Ministry has gone mad. In no way, shape, or form, could we send these letters! Damn it!"

"Harry, language," Rosemary Lilith Black, nee Lovegood, smiled when she walked into their room, holding a tray with their lunch, "Thought you might want something to eat. You really must be starving at this rate. Honestly, skipping breakfast?"

Rosemary, or Mary for short, looked like a typical seventeen year old in the muggle world. She always wore jeans that were ripped and t-shirts, but in reality, she wasn't seventeen. No, the woman was actually bonded to Sirius Black, and she herself was going to turn 36 on October 1st that year. She was one of the most skilled aurors, although she wasn't really known by anyone outside of the DMLE or the MoM. That was because she rejected her name, and used to hiss at the sound of her maiden surname. But now, she still worked as an auror, but she was called only for Undesirables and the escaped prisoners. Although, since they really had no information on where those prisoners were, she was off duty for quite a while.

"Thanks, Mary," Ginny replied, before sighing, "The British Ministry has gotten itself into this mess, and they're not going to be able to get out of it. It looks as if it's going to be a much worse impact on them in this War then the last one. I'm not even sure if Fudge hasn't betrayed us yet or not, but I'm thinking he has. Denial is the key to a person being either bribed not to tell or is trying to sugar-coat something. I think it's both."

"Very Auror-like of you," Mary nodded, before she took out three cups and filled them with butterbeer, handing two of them to Harry and Ginny, "And very good for a person allowed in the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix."

It was true that Harry and Ginny were allowed inside the Order meetings now. Although, many of the Order's members visited weekly; it was slightly strange to see their Hogwarts Transfiguration Professor, Minerva McGonagall, in muggle clothes, rather than her emerald green robes. But, it seemed only fit now that they were out of school, although other Order members like Remus, Nymphadora Tonks, and Bill Weasley, one of Ginny's six brothers, who transferred to a 'desk job' since he originally worked in Egypt. Molly and Arthur Weasley, Ginny's parents, were also part of the Order, although they couldn't attend meetings until they came on July 1st with the three youngest Weasley boys; Ron, George, and Fred. Although, George still attended the meetings.

Luna Lovegood was currently a guest at Grimmauld Place, although the reason why is because she needed a guardian, and she didn't have one, because both of her parents were dead. Klara Lovegood, Luna's mother, died when the girl was only nine years old, and the woman's death was right in front of Luna. And then, Luna's father died in the summer of 1993 from a yeti attack, and Xenophilius Lovegood's death was never properly looked into. But, Luna was actually okay, thanks to George, because they too were soul-bonded; just like Luna's grandparents, Harry and Ginny, and Sirius and Mary. Through the bond's given telepathy, George was actually able to attend the meetings since Luna was allowed to. She spoke for both of them, and frankly, it was rather interesting to hear her speak in two different opinions.

It seemed, to Harry, that after Cedric's death in the Triwizard Tournament, that the Order was working harder to prevent any deaths from happening again. Of course, even one day after the mass break-out, there was still two deaths, one muggle and one who was a muggleborn. The whole world was now falling into havoc; the Aussies and Americans were actually willing to help, as well as the French and Greek. Bulgaria practically supported all of what Voldemort thought, heck; they pretty much supported the man himself. And all of the other countries were still unsure of themselves, since they had problems of their own.

But after Cedric died, everything had been in a blur. One moment, Dumbledore was asking them to not formally join the Order, the next they were attending Cedric Diggory's funeral. And then they had to go pack, and they ran into Fleur Delacour, who also joined the Order, since she was a valuable asset with her talent to mimic accents. Then Harry and Ginny were on the train, and neither of them was actually in too much emotion to do anything but joke slightly and be in grief, since they had witnessed Cedric's death firsthand. Both of them grew a deep, deep hate against Voldemort, and they were determined to bring the man to his death.

"We've found that the Dementors were actually known to side with Voldemort in the First Wizarding War," Harry added, "Until he was 'killed'."

Nodding, Mary looked at them, "You know, all of this makes sense. Voldemort wasn't very. . . . Well able to produce a Patronus. One of his followers actually died when they tried to do so. If he had the Dementors on his side, then he wouldn't have to worry about needed to produce one. It all makes sense now! Bloody hell, you two just solved something!"

Sirius appeared moments later, yawning and actually in jeans and a t-shirt. "So, the two of you actually got a part solved?" he yawned.

"Not exactly. . . ."

". . . . More like we got a piece solved . . . ."

". . . . Voldemort and his followers can't produce a Patronus."

That caught his attention. Sirius' eyes widened, and he looked at them. "They can't produce a Patronus!" the man laughed, "The Order is going to be surprised at this. But then again, they have the Dementors siding with them."

"KREACHER, DON'T DO THAT!"

"Ah yes, the metamorphmagus is here. She tells me to stop, filthy blood traitor you and your mother are!"

"BLOOD TRAITORS IN MY HOME, KREACHER, YOU STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!" Sirius shouted.

"Thanks cousin! Why don't you get rid of the little brat?" Tonks asked, her hair sporting her favorite color, bubblegum pink, as she walked into Harry and Ginny's room.

"He knows too much, Dumbledore says," Sirius scowled, before saying, "Hello Tonks."

"Hi Dora," Mary smiled.

"Hello Tonks," Harry and Ginny said.

"Hello. Ginny, Harry, Mary, Sirius," Tonks acknowledged them, "Why don't you just ask the little bastard to remain quiet for the rest of his miserable life?"

"Haven't actually tried that one yet," Sirius grinned.

"Another Order meeting tonight, ya know."

"Yep, and we got some new information that we all could use."

Tonks grinned, "Excellent."

"Yes, well, we better move this discussion. Order members are going to start to come in, yes?" Mary sighed, and the five of them walked over to the living room, where they had somehow gotten a phone in there to work, which was pretty amazing.

_I can't believe it._

_ Can't believe what?_

_ We've actually been able to do this, all of it._

_ I know Gin, I know._

XXX

Hundreds of miles away, a fifteen year old boy lay on his king-sized dark green bed, staring up at his ceiling, which ironically was also green. He let out a sigh, hearing the shouting voices downstairs. Slytherin posters hung around his bedroom, and the entire fashion of everything was green and silver with the occasional color black. The shouting was coming from his mother and father, their voices echoing against the walls of their Manor. The house-elves were currently trying their best to prepare dinner for their 'guests'. The boy sighed even louder, missing the quietness of his room beforehand. The voices got even louder, although they were muffled, so he couldn't hear what his parents were talking about. Then, suddenly, the voices stopped, and he heard a loud scoff, and his father's voice changed dramatically, it sounded like he was pleading, which was unusual and sounded foreign to his ears.

Footsteps sounded like they were running up the stairs, and a boom told him a door had just been slammed shut. What on earth was going on? Sitting up, he turned to look at his closed door for a fleeting moment, his thoughts running wild, before he heard his mother wailing. He had known what his father was asking her: to take the Dark Mark. Before, his mother was a trophy wife, but now, she was needed to join the damned Death Eaters. He stared, in shock, as his door opened to reveal his mother in near tears. Her pale blonde hair was in a mess, and her blue eyes obviously showed fear. "Draco," she began, her voice cracking, "Grab your trunk and fill it only with clothes and your Hogwarts things. We're leaving."

Leaving?

They were leaving Malfoy Manor? Why? How? What was going on? Gulping, Draco nodded and opened up his Hogwarts trunk, filling it with the items his mother, Narcissa Malfoy had asked him to take. He filled it to the brim, before closing it. His door stood ajar, and many of their house-elves looked in shock, as Narcissa looked at him before she whispered, "Is that everything? We won't be coming back."

Draco nodded, not trusting his own voice as she grabbed his hand and levitated his trunk, before he turned, and grabbed his wand. He would need it later on, and Narcissa tugged, and they walked out of his bedroom, and he took his last glance at it before the door closed. He brushed his hair out of his eyes as they continued on, and he saw his aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange. The woman stared at them before she asked in a shocked voice, "Cissy?"

His mother did not reply, she just continued on, walking with her head held high. In truth, if Draco hadn't heard their conversation, it was more likely that Bellatrix didn't either. They made their way out of Malfoy Manor, before they stopped at the Apparation Point. Narcissa turned, however, and she growled, "I don't ever want to see you again, you damn fool."

And then, with a 'pop' Narcissa and Draco Malfoy were gone from Malfoy Manor, for possibly forever.

They appeared just a few feet away from the Leaky Cauldron's entrance, and they walked inside. Narcissa turned to the pub and inn owner, and asked in a calm and cool voice, "Can we use your Floo?"

"Of course madam," Tom replied, and they walked over to the fireplace.

"Draco," Narcissa whispered, "You go first. You're not going to recognize any of the people in there, so remain calm and wait until I come to do anything."

Nodding once more, Draco grabbed a handful of the grey powder and threw it into the fireplace before his mother told him what to say. Confused, he said in a clear voice, "Grimmauld Place."

XXX

Harry sat right next to Ginny, right after they had said what information they had. The rest of the Order, save for Molly and Arthur, were pleased to hear this, since they couldn't get as many recruits nowadays. The younger people who had just gotten out of Hogwarts didn't want to risk their lives, even if it meant saving their friends in the process. That was when they heard somebody come in through the Floo.

"Who could that be?" Luna asked, two voices overlaying each other at once.

Getting up, Harry casted the charm on his clothes, and he and Ginny transformed into their wolf forms before continuing to walk into the living room. Whatever they were expecting, it wasn't Draco Malfoy looking around, and then at them, in interest. "Guard dogs, I suppose?" he asked, his voice filled with curiosity and not the usual venom, although Harry snarled in reply. They were not guard dogs; they were currently wolves at the moment!

Narcissa Malfoy came moments later, and two trunks and a 2001 broom appeared moments later, and this time, Ginny growled, before she stood on her hind legs and turned back. The two Malfoys looked at them in shock as she called out, "Its Draco Malfoy and his mum!"

Harry looked at them angrily, and he saw Draco visibly shrank back. What were _they _doing here? Clatters came in response, and Mary and Sirius came rushing into the room. "Who are you?" Narcissa asked, her eyes going slightly wide.

"I could ask the same for you, but I already know who you are, cousin," Sirius snarled, "I guess you didn't pay attention to the Daily Prophet, Narcissa."

Harry's hackles rose as Sirius spoke, and he growled. Ginny sighed, "Oh please, not like you could harm him with me here, so drop it."

"Why are you talking to that wolf like that?" Draco asked.

"Shit," she cursed in response, and Mary could be heard muttering 'language'.

Glaring at Ginny, he rose up and transformed. The blonde haired boy looked like he could have fainted when he saw this, and Ginny rolled her eyes, one of them turning a brilliant shade of violet. "Oh please, we won't kill you. . . . Yet, although I can't promise anything here about Sirius and Mary, but I'm trusting they won't either."

_Nice job, Gin._

_ Hey! It's not my fault if they become insane because of us._

_ Yes it is._

_ Prat!_

_ I'm not a prat._

"What the heck?" Luna cried, and in the background of her voice you could hear George muttering 'Bloody hell'.

XXX

Hermione Jean Granger sat on her bed, packing up her things. She was going to stay with the Weasleys until July 1st, where they would all go to 'Headquarters'. She didn't know what that exactly meant, but it seemed that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley did, as well as Harry and Ginny, and Sirius and Rosemary. Why on earth did they know something like that? She didn't know herself, but whatever it was, it was important. And Harry and Ginny wouldn't reveal anything to her, so she was stuck with guessing, and she hated that. Guessing wasn't one of her things. She liked the pure, clean, facts. But, Hermione wasn't getting them, and she hated it.

Sighing, she closed her trunk just as her mother came in, saying, "Honey, are you sure you don't want to just stay the summer here?"

Her parents had tried to convince her of this since she had told them of her plans, and she didn't like it. Wasn't it her choice, not theirs? "Yes, Mum, I'll be fine. Don't worry about it; it's just Ron, George, Fred, and Luna."

Well. . . . Not entirely. Luna and George were doing a thing through their bond where they could talk through each other, but it would still be similar to talking to the actual Luna, she just wouldn't be there.

XXX

_Harry and Ginny,_

_ How's your summer going? I know there's only about a week left until we see you guys again, but it's honestly boring here at the Burrow, even with 'Mione here. She talks about doing homework, already! Can you believe it? It's like she's all about school-work, although, knowing her for this long, that's the truth. I still can't believe summer passed this fast already, can you?_

_ How are Sirius and Mary doing? Are they doing alright? I hope they aren't actually boring you two to death like 'Mione is with me. Respond to this ASAP._

_Ron._

Ginny snorted as she stared at the letter. Errol, her family's owl, was currently getting something to eat from Hedwig's dishes. Was Ron really this bored?

_What do you think?_

_ I don't know._

_ Think we should tell him about Draco?_

_ Nah, he'd freak out. As it is, the information Narcissa and Draco told us is way too important to tell him at the moment because Hedwig could be intercepted._

_ True._

_ Keep it short and simple?_

_ Yep._

_ 'Kay._

Harry began writing their letter, and Ginny sighed. Narcissa and Draco were currently in the process of dropping the Malfoy name, surprisingly. But, that didn't mean they would keep Harry and Ginny's secret. Draco himself was stunned into silence whenever they came in as their wolf forms, since it was highly unusual, but the two of them didn't care. It was their choice anyways, well, not really a choice in Harry's case. But, they didn't see the fifteen year old much in the two days that had passed, since the kid was in his room all the time.

Grimmauld Place had been transformed into what Sirius called 'The Black Manor'. All of the walls were scarlet, gold, or blue. And the family tree curtains had been taken down, as well as Walburga Black's screaming portrait. Many of the old rooms were waiting for Molly to come in and clean them, since Mary had been exhausted lately with cooking dinner by herself, and Ginny and Luna, although dinner required to fix a lot more than what either three of them were used to.

**Ron,**

** We're fine. Summer is great so far, although Mary and Sirius are really enjoying the summer. Are Mum and Dad doing well? How about Hermione? Yes, she wants to get homework done this early so she can enjoy the summer more. We've already gotten ours done, so you should be working on yours too. Other than that, we've just been having fun and playing games. Oh yeah, how's Fred and George doing? Luna's doing their whole 'talking' thing, so is George doing the same? He seems to be doing okay, although we're not sure.**

** We'll see you in a week,**

** Harry and Ginny (We really will!).**

Harry put their letter in the envelope, and as if on cue, Hedwig came over to deliver it. She put out her leg, and he tied the envelope to her, before their snowy owl flew out of the window and off to the Burrow.

_I really hate lying to them._

_ They'll find out soon enough._

_ Sure they will._

_ It's the honest truth, Harry!_

Laughing, the two of them looked at the mess littering their room.

XXX

Draco heard the laughter coming from _their_ room. Two days. That all it took for them to act normal around him, or as normal as they could supposedly be. Really, the Potters weren't normal at all. Two animagi that were Mary and Sirius and their bear-like dogs was more than enough, but add in the Potters, it was almost insane. Sighing, he walked through the hallways of Grimmauld Place. In reality, he didn't exactly like this house, it seemed too proud, but then again, Malfoy Manor was more unsettling than 'Black Manor'. It was just like the old problems all over again. But this time, his mother had joined the Order, and they were actually fighting against blood purity. It seemed perfect that they were, but he wasn't allowed to be in on the meetings, so he was left to his own devices, while they were in on what the Order was actually doing; well, they were considered of age.

_Well, they are the two most powerful people in Britain._

It was true, that part at least. For some reason, the double magic gain that was supposed to happen, before their life-endangering experiences, happened. So now, they were six fold as powerful as what they were at the beginning of the fourth year. It was a scary thing to ponder, living with two people whose magical cores were not only combined, but also more powerful than even Dumbledore himself. What they could do to him or anybody else in the house; Draco gave an involuntary shudder.

"HARRY!"

More giggling and laughter followed. "Too bad I can't put a Silencing Charm on them," he grumbled in reply to the noise.

Walking farther down the long corridors, he found himself passing the six guest rooms, three on each side of the hallway, before he turned around and walked back to his own room, which had silver walls and white carpet on it, which was surprising. There was no green, however, since his cousin, Sirius, had stated that the Black Manor had too much green in it for years, and that he had finally had enough of it. Honestly, what was wrong with green? And then Narcissa told him how Sirius hated the Slytherin House; what was wrong with that? Were all Slytherins evil? Surely not! Look at his mother, Narcissa left his father just so they could stay free from Voldemort!

Harry and Ginny weren't all that bad, well, they were Gryffindors. But he had begun to realize that in mid-September. They were fighting for a cause that just now existed, and they had somehow known that one day You-Know-Who would return. Draco couldn't just say or think the name quite yet, although it seemed that most of the Order members, including his mother, could. The two Potters actually said the name without one small ounce of fear, and Draco wondered how they could actually do that.

Finding their door open, he saw them picking up the pieces of parchment and books on the carpet, all the while also having a fight of throwing the papers around. Mentally sighing, he walked back to his own room, before shutting the door.

XXX

Ron sighed, packing up his stuff in his Hogwarts trunk. Where exactly was this 'Headquarters' anyways? And why would they need to go to that place, he had no idea. It shouldn't really have mattered to him, but Hermione was ecstatic about knowing why, so he supposed he was also curious. Partially because the whole topic was spoken in a hushed whisper between his parents, and partially because George and Luna somehow knew what was going on, although they wouldn't say a single thing on the subject. Soul-Bonds were now a daily thing at the Burrow, because you could hear George _and_ Luna talking at once, although she technically wasn't there. In a way, it was bloody creepy. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to it, because he was, it was just he wasn't used to the whole part where you would see George walking into the room, but Luna was speaking, not George.

"Are you almost done?" his mother, Molly Weasley's, voice came up through the hallway.

"Yes!" he shouted in reply.

Closing his trunk and grabbing his wand, Ron made his way down the stairs.

**A/N: And we're off! I'm sorry about all the cursing in here, but it's just the prologue, and Sirius isn't exactly a good figure to have when he's cursing sometimes, as well as Tonks. And I'm only going to say this once, please review!**


	2. Chapter 1: Here We Go Again

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

**A/N: Thought I would start off the first chapter, not including the prologue, in the series like this!**

**Chapter 1: Here We Go Again**

_**DEMENTORS ATTACK MUGGLES!**_

_On July 22__nd__, 1995, at 6:45 P.M., Dementors attacked number 4 Privet Drive, home to the muggles and their muggleborn metamorphmagus daughter, Oona Evans. Oona's father, Vernon Dursley, and her brother, Dudley Dursley, both succumbed to the Dementor's Kiss, while her mother, Petunia Dursley, ran to Arabella Figg's house. Figg is a squib, living near them with her half-kneazles, fifteen minutes before help arrived. By then, all muggles except for Petunia were either under the after effects of having Dementors trying to take their soul, or received the Dementor's Kiss themselves. When help arrived, seventeen aurors succeeded in killing thirty three Dementors, and two of the aurors were kissed. Nobody was willing to comment on the subject._

That small article, very small indeed, sparked a rage within the Order like none other. Ginny herself was filled with rage. How dare they do such a thing so close to Harry's birthday? How dare Voldemort do something like that? Hurting Harry's family like that, no matter how they treated him, was a low move. She could feel the fear and depression radiating from him. It wasn't his fault, though, and Ginny had to convince him that.

_Harry. . . ._

_ What Ginny? I put them in danger!_

_ Harry James Potter! Don't you dare speak to me like that! It's not your fault, damn it, it's not! You can't convince yourself that all the time! Today's your birthday, for crying out loud! If you start thinking like that, you're going to get that kind of attitude! You're going to be brave, you prat, because your cousin is probably asking where her daddy and brother are at, and how do you think Petunia is faring through all of this? I can promise you, she's probably not faring well, so stop it!_

_ Ginny!_

_ Here we go again. . . ._

_ What do you mean?_

_ It's the same cycle, over and over again. Look at me, _he stared into her eyes as they sat on their bed, _you are not a monster. You never have been, and you never will be. You're Harry James Potter, my bond-mate and best friend, not to mention husband, and that will never change._

XXX

The rest of the summer basically flew by at that point, leaving everybody to their own devices. Hermione, both of them knew, was in frenzy, trying to wonder if she was going to be prefect or not. It was very much like her, and it took all of them to convince her that if she wasn't a prefect, she would more than likely be Head Girl in two years, although they weren't sure about who was going to be the girl prefect if she wasn't. Draco hung in his room, not really talking to anybody, and so they really didn't worry about him.

Harry got what he called 'the usual' for his birthday; which was sweets, books, and plush animals, although the plush animals were more or less for decorations now. Ginny, however, gave him a piece of metalwork, painted, that had a wolf staring at them, the emerald green eyes clashing with the black fur on the metal.

And when Ginny's birthday came around, Harry got her a ring, which caused Molly Weasley to almost faint in shock. The ring, which had a gold band, also had little emeralds and rubies and diamonds in it, and her name was engraved on one side of it. Overall, she loved it, but not as much as she loved him. It was painful for her to watch, though, his attitude get slightly worse with anybody but her. More depressed than usual, well, there wasn't a usual, but still. She knew the only reason why he couldn't be mad at her was because she was his bond-mate, and the fact that in this mess she was his personal guidance.

On August 15th, four days after Ginny's birthday, the Hogwarts letters arrived, eight in total. Three of them, however, contained something that sounded like metal, and Hermione's wasn't one of them. No, Harry, Ginny, and Draco, opened their letters in two different rooms. Ginny took out the scarlet Gryffindor prefect badge in shock, and the same thing was for Harry. _We're prefects?_

_ Looks like it._

_ Bloody hell!_

_ Harry!_

Putting the prefect badges aside, they looked at their almost-sixteen year old friend. She smiled forcefully, and Luna scoffed, "Really? Hermione, the only reason both of them got it was because, well, if Harry got it, who would be partnered with him besides Ginny? Not to mention the fact that McGonagall and Dumbledore probably had a very heated discussion about this, mind you."

Hermione looked up in shock as George nodded in reply, as he really didn't speak much anymore, but nonetheless it was a kind gesture. And then, Ginny had a sudden flash of a memory of Percy getting his prefect badge. In truth, her brother had said that she and Harry were 'liars and deserved beds right next to 'Frank and Alice Longbottom', although Molly and Arthur wouldn't tell the three boys that were staying at the Burrow about what it meant. Ginny herself didn't know what it meant, since the Order didn't talk about them, although they sounded like they were related to Neville Longbottom, a Gryffindor in their year. Then again, the boy didn't speak much of his parents, and he always received gifts from his grandmother, not his mum or dad. Yes, it was very interesting to hear this indeed, although she wouldn't say anything about it.

"Oh! There you seven are," Mary smiled, "Oh? Did you two become Prefects? Just like Moony did, it seems. Draco did too, although I'm not entirely surprised at that. Now come on, we have to have a party of the sorts, don't we?"

Nodding, the pack and Mary went down to the living room, which abruptly was set up with a few flicks of Mary's wand, which was quite amazing. Tonks came in not moments later, and gave herself tomato red waist length hair, and thus the celebration began. Butterbeer and snacks were served, although at one point, Ginny and Harry made their way off to find Molly.

XXX

Whatever they were expecting, it wasn't a crying Molly Weasley looking at a boggart, crying, "_Riddikulus,_" as a dead Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and even Luna were flashed on the floor, each with various wounds, their faces pale and blood splattered on their torn clothes.

Rage enveloped Harry as he made his way in a run to in front of Molly, only to nearly fall to the ground moments later. It was not the Dementor as it had been in the Triwizard Tournament or his third year. Instead, it was the dead form of Ginny. Molly let out a cry of shock as Harry collapsed to the floor, tears already streaming down his cheeks. He gasped, his breaths ragged, as his vision went fuzzy. Ginny mentally and verbally called out his name, and he saw Remus running in front of him, and then Harry's arms gave out, causing him to fall onto his side. Black spots clouded his vision, and he saw the alive and well, not to mention real, Ginny Potter collapse onto the floor with him, along with muffled screams of outrage and shock. The black overtook his vision just at that moment.

_Harry. . . ._

_ Ginny, _he thought, although his mind was quickly becoming foggy.

And then Harry went into a deep state of unconsciousness.

XXX

"Ginny, Harry; it's time to wake up!"

"Really, Ron, that won't work. They've passed out."

"Hey! It's not my fault!"

"Of course it isn't, but still!"

"Can you two please shut up?"

Harry groaned in response before he opened his eyes. "Bloody hell, he's awake!"

"Shut up, will you?"

"Sorry!"

"Yeah, sure you are."

"Why are you even here?"

A figure of movement came out of the corner of his eye, and he supposed it was a shrug. He could hear Hermione's voice, as well as Ron's, but the other voice was still a mystery to him. "Because I can be here, if you really must know; besides, I suppose my torture is enough, isn't it?"

"Liar," Ron growled in response, quite literally.

"Yeah, like seeing four different animals in one room isn't enough!"

"Don't argue with him, he's probably just curious. Not like he knows too much anyways."

"But 'Mione, he could go and blab 'bout everything!"

"I really wouldn't."

"Ha!"

"Stop fighting, will you?" Harry muttered, and they all went quiet again, while Ginny groaned in response. She sounded as if she was right next to him.

"Finally; the dead awake again."

"Very funny, Draco, but they didn't almost die this time."

"Mary said that their cores doubled. . . . Again; how do you expect me to take this?"

"I really do hate you sometimes."

"Shut up, all of you," Luna sighed and he saw a flash of her dirty blonde hair.

Sitting up, Harry rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. His vision cleared, and he saw five people in his room, although, Fred was strangely missing. "Hey! You shouldn't be doing that, Harry! You're going to wake Ginny up!"

"She's already awake," Ginny murmured.

"Okay then?"

Draco rolled his eyes and left the room, muttering about 'this was unfair' and Luna said in response, "Good riddance."

Crashing back onto their bed, Harry groaned once more. His whole body hurt, and he could feel the pain radiating from Ginny. What had happened to them? What on earth was going on? Memories flooded back into his mind, and he realized what the boggart did to him. He saw Ginny, _dead_. The thought of it sent shivers and chills down his spine. She couldn't die! Not without him! Was that really his worst fear now? Seeing her dead?

_Don't worry, love, I'm not dead._

_ Ginny, I'm sorry._

_ And what do you need to apologize for? Nothing; that's the truth; it's not your fault we collapsed. And it's not your fault that seeing me dead is your worst fear. Heck, I bet if I walked in front of that boggart, I would see you dead or dying because of the basilisk. So, it's not your fault._

"Think we should leave the room?"

"Privacy, of course," George agreed, and the four of them left.

_I love you Harry._

_ I love you too, Gin._

And the two of them fell into a deep sleep.

XXX

_Lucius Malfoy was on his knees in front of them, writhing in pain. A howl of laughter escaped their lips, and they said, "Really, Lucius? Did you think that I would let you off, even though your wife and son escaped? They were supposed to be ours! Part of our allegiance! No, this won't do at all. We'll just have to replace them, I suppose, although you don't deserve another wife and child. You're lucky I've decided to not feed you to Nagini, since she is hungry. But, alas, I have mercy on you. It must be so. . . . Hard, to have your family disown you, becoming traitors; isn't it?"_

_ "Yes, m' Lord," Lucius agreed stiffly._

_ "Liar," shouted Bellatrix, "You never loved Cissy anyways! You treated her like a house-elf! And you have no shame? You liar," she snarled._

_ "Bella, please," they said, and Bellatrix immediately calmed down._

_ "I'm sorry, my Lord," she apologized, but then said, "Cissy has chosen her path, and I'm going to make sure I get my sister back."_

_ "A good choice indeed," they agreed._

_ Nagini came slithering in, eating what looked to be a stray dog, whole. She swallowed the thing, which was still twitching, before she slithered to their side. "Bring in Rookwood, Lucius, although your questioning is far from over."_

XXX

Ginny awoke sometime later, her eyes snapping open almost as soon as she realized she was awake. Harry was still sleeping, although he wasn't dreaming again. Looking around, she realized it was very early in the morning, as rays of sun were starting to pour into their room, but last time it was nighttime. How long had they been asleep for? Rubbing her eyes, she was pretty sure that today was August 16th, one day before the whole family and Hermione, and even possibly Draco, would go to Diagon Alley. She didn't like the idea of Draco joining them, though. He always seemed so _whining_ around them, and frankly, it was annoying.

Yawning, she got up and stretched, Harry mumbling beside her, "Let me sleep."

"Nope; it's time to wake up, sleepy head!" she grinned in reply, before summoning a pillow that was on the floor and hit him with it. . . . Once, twice, three times. In response, he groaned, and she just laughed, "Oh come on Harry! Don't you want breakfast? Or how about some leftover Sheppard's pie," that did it.

Harry's eyes snapped open, and she saw her favorite emerald green orbs. He grinned at her, while saying, "Why you!" Before he got up and stretched.

"I love you too," she giggled in reply.

_Sure you do._

_ Hey, what's that supposed to mean?_

He grinned at her and said, "Nothing, love."

Rolling her eyes, Ginny got ready for the day, as did Harry, before the two of them went down the stairs, only to see Fred and George apparate in front of them. "Well, well," George began.

"What do we have here?" Fred grinned.

"Well, Freddie, it seems we have two hungry wolves here."

"I agree with you perfectly, Georgie."

"Oh quiet you two!" Ginny sighed in exasperation, also slightly surprised that George was talking now, although he was usually talkative until Draco came. . . . Which was interesting; she would have to look in more on the subject.

The two of them went into the kitchen, before realizing that nobody would be up yet. _Oops. . . ._

_ Oops indeed._

Ginny giggled in response, and then they just decided to fix breakfast themselves, since both of them were good at cooking. She did the bacon and sausage, and he did the eggs and potatoes. They worked together, moving fluently around each other in perfect fashion, while Fred and George disappeared somewhere else in the house. Aromas of the meal made their way through the house, and people slowly began coming down. "You fixed breakfast?" Sirius asked, before adding, "Bloody hell."

"Language, Sirius!" Mary scolded in reply, "We don't need them repeating what you say at Hogwarts!"

"Sorry, Mars," Sirius replied.

"Sure you are."

_Don't they seem like the teenagers they look like?_

_ You got that right._

Ginny laughed as she got out the plates and started putting food on them, before she gave them to the rest of the occupants of Grimmauld Place. Chatter started up immediately, although it wasn't too loud. It was now around eight in the morning, which surprised her, since Ron especially didn't wake up this early. Although, she supposed, it was mainly because she wouldn't cook a late breakfast for him and he would've had to fast.

XXX

It was a hot, sticky, day outside of Grimmauld Place, and hundreds of miles away, and the humidity; it was unbearable. Sweat dripped down a boy's neck as he sat on the swings, right next to what many people thought was his girlfriend, although she was more than that. Much more; they had arrived by Floo, just to keep a watch on what was going on in the muggle world, how everything was being played out. The girl noiselessly rocked her own swing back and forth, gently, her fiery red hair caught in the wind. He liked it when she had that look of thoughtfulness; it was beautiful, although he wouldn't admit it. No, the two of them sat on the swings, watching nothing except the ordinary children running around, laughing, oblivious. The two teenagers wouldn't reveal what they were doing, it was confidential, but in reality they were watching for peaks of accidental magic. One or two of the nineteen children, all no older than nine, running around; it could have been humorous if this wasn't dire. Kidnapping, no, that wasn't what the two teenagers were doing, they were trying to save muggleborns. Because happiness and accidental magic drew Dementors near, and they really didn't want those foul creatures here, since that would be a fun disaster to explain to the British Ministry of Magic, not that the children would know what it was about.

"Freak!" cried a girl with blonde pigtails, pointing at another blonde haired girl with blue eyes, which was interesting indeed, "Mummy said you couldn't do that! I'll tell Mummy on you, Jocelyn, I will!"

"I'm not a freak!" the girl, who must've been Jocelyn said, "And don't tell Mummy! I don't want to be hurt again!" That did it.

The two teenagers' heads snapped up, and he stared at them. Her mother was hurting her? The two girls couldn't be any older than eight, although Jocelyn looked almost nine. The other girl, who they assumed was her sister, although the two looked nothing alike. "Liar," the girl said, "You're doing it on purpose! Levitating that pebble! You're lying! Mummy said doing that makes you a bad girl, and bad girls deserve to be punished!"

Grinning, the first girl walked away, leaving Jocelyn crying on the ground, shaking in fear. They stood up, and cautiously walked towards the young girl, who didn't look up. "Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down right next to her.

"No," Jocelyn sniffed, "Mummy and Emma h-hate m-me. And D-Daddy h-hasn't come home for an l-long t-t-time."

"Do you want to get away from your Mummy and your sister?" he tried again.

"Emma's not my sister, not by blood. And b-b-because of t-that, she likes to h-h-hit me too," Jocelyn cried, before reaching out to Ginny, and she hugged the girl tightly.

"Well, we can help you get away from them. The Ministry's going to have a fit over this, I bet," he nodded.

"What's the Ministry?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Ginny interrupted, them, and then she said to him, "Harry, do you feel that?"

A sudden blast of icy coldness washed over them, and he nodded, saying, "Dementors."

Harry jumped to his feet and pulled out his wand, and Jocelyn stopped crying and looked at them, her eyes wide. "Damn it," he cursed, before saying, "Gin, can you produce a Patronus while I get help?"

"Of course, Harry, I'm not helpless."

"Never said you were, love," he replied, before saying, "Expecto Patronum!"

His Patronus, a silver stag, came out of his wand, and he continued on to say to the deer, "Dementors. We need help, ASAP. Respond immediately once you get this."

The stag nodded, then ran off, and Jocelyn asked, "What was that?"

"A Patronus, you'll learn more about them one day."

Harry looked up at the sky, which was already getting darker, and then he heard it: the blood-curdling scream of a young girl. Turning his head, he saw Emma, lying on the ground, her eyes glassy, as a Dementor swallowed a blue orb coming from her mouth, and Harry screamed, "Shit!"

"Expecto Patronum!" Ginny cried, and a doe came out of nowhere, as she didn't have time to pull out her wand.

"Nice job, love."

"As always; Jocelyn, you stay here."

"No! She doesn't know what's going on!"

He was right, as the young girl was looking at the two of them, her eyes full with shock and fear. "Damn it!" Harry cursed, again, but sighed in relief once he saw a tiger Patronus coming towards them.

Luna's voice came from the tiger as it looked at them, "On our way! We're coming; Sirius, Remus, Moody, Tonks, the whole bunch of us, minus Molly, Ron, Hermione, and Draco!"

The tiger than disappeared and Ginny cried out to him, "Harry! Help me, over here!"

Nodding the two of them fought their way through the mess, and Harry only hoped that help would come soon.

XXX

Nymphadora Tonks appeared in a field, about one hundred yards away from where Harry and Ginny were at, and she could taste the magic in the air. Lightning struck the ground, once, twice, three times, in the distance. Three silhouettes were also in the distance, two of them fighting against the floating figures. It was only lucky enough that she had to decide to visit her cousins and that Moody and Remus just happened to be there. Remus; no, she couldn't think of that at the moment, she had people to save.

Sirius and Mary apparated in with George and Luna, although George had apparated Luna in; although she didn't like the idea of Luna being in on this, George was more powerful when she was close by. Or so she had heard, Tonks had no idea if they were lying or not. Breaking into a full sprint, she ran after the silhouettes, as they began to take in detail. The Dementors flocked them, and a crying girl who looked like a Veela was being guarded by Harry and Ginny, maybe the girl was a Veela, she didn't know. But she kept running, trying to get through the wheat, which was in the field. The playground was in the distance, and the sight disgusted her. Bodies of children littered the playground, and she knew they would rise no more. Dead children, the thought was saddening.

"Are they going to make it?" Mary asked, dumbstruck, as she saw Ginny almost collapse to the ground.

_No. Please no. Let them live, you foul bastards, let them live._

She ran all the more faster, her feet pounding on the surface of the ground, her arms making way for her to run without tripping. Many people would think that she couldn't run without being clumsy, but that was not true. It wasn't a ploy, she really was clumsy, but when she desperately didn't want to be, she could run easily. Tonks made her way to the playground, her eyes skimming over the bodies. Almost all of their mouths were gaping open, except for one. A girl with blonde pigtails would forever more have a wide evil grin on her face, her eyes filled with pure hatred and excitement. This girl, more than likely, deserved to die, but the other children did not.

Lightning struck again, coming from a pitch black sky, and Tonks said, "Lumos," causing her wand to light up. She saw just in time, for Ginny to collapse to the ground, screaming bloody murder.

Ginny got back up, her eyes literally glowing purple, the aura around her the brightest of violets Tonks had ever seen, and a bright flash of white light enveloped the scene, the Veela girl hugging herself tightly, her eyes closed. And in an instant, the light stopped. The Dementors were gone; all that remained of them were their black cloaks. The pale blonde haired girl was still breathing, her eyes slowly opening in shock as she looked around. Tonks silently wondered what the girl thought of this, but not for long, as she turned her head to see what happened to Harry and Ginny.

The white light dimmed, but it was still around them. Then, another light joined it; the color of the new light was an emerald green. A ruby light joined the two others, and they all mixed, before the white light was thrown out and shot into the sky, where it crackled like lightning "Dear god!" Luna gasped, "What's going on?"

"You mean you haven't seen this before?" Tonks asked George and Luna, and the two of them shook their heads.

"Fred said he never saw this happen to us," George replied over the sudden boom of thunder right above their heads, "It's not in any of the books we found either."

The emerald and ruby mixed, before they shot back down to Harry and Ginny, making a blast of violet and yellow shoot out, enveloping the whole scene as the clouds slowly cleared. "Nox," Tonks said, and her wand's light went out.

Staring at the two, their chests rose slowly, and she looked at them. What on earth was going on? Walking towards Harry and Ginny, she saw that their hands were clasped together, both of their expressions hardened. She then looked over at the Veela, whose eyes were unfocused, and the young girl said, "They're mates; married. But they have to find the other's half again."

That confirmed it. The young girl was a Veela; the Ministry was going to be on end about this one. Having a Veela in a muggle household, probably a half-Veela, and a second muggle attack by Dementors, Tonks would be surprised if Fudge wasn't sacked as soon as the rest of the wizarding world got word of this. But what did she mean by finding the other's half. Most curious indeed, Tonks thought, before she turned around and stepped back, just as a precaution.

"Our darned Ministry's going to go down," she said, before adding, "We need to get these two out of here before other aurors arrive."

Everybody nodded.

**A/N: Ack! Another chapter done! YES! Well, not another, the first 'official' chapter. And, of course, a response:**

**Review by Darrell-deam: ****That's more like it, a decent length chapter! Sounds like a good start to another year. Narcissa and Draco is an interesting twist.**

**Response: Yep! A decent length chapter! A good start to another year; possibly! Sorry about the name mix-up, I kept on reading your name wrong. And, yes, I thought that Narcissa and Draco would be a good twist, although that's just the beginning of it! Thanks for the review!**


	3. Chapter 2: Trapped

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

_Crashing. . . ._

_ Falling. . . ._

_ Memories. . . ._

_ SLAM!_

_ She coughed, looking at her surroundings. Ginny was shocked. What had she just done? All she remembered was the violet light and then, nothing. And where was Harry? Everything was dark, but a sense of ruby walls hung around her. Was this her half of their soul? Pictures, memories, everything was terrifying. Getting up off the ground, she tried to find an exit, but to no avail. She sighed; it was probably going to be a long time before she could get out of this room, so instead, she looked around at the paintings on the wall, which were actually memories. . . . But they weren't hers; they were Harry's, every single one of them, and it just revealed what he had meant, but never had shown her exactly, of his childhood. She winced as she watched them, before sitting down and leaning against one of the walls. How long was she going to be here? The very question kept repeating in her mind. Looking up, she realized the ceiling was an emerald green. The only reminder, besides the 'painting's, she had of Harry at the moment. It didn't help that their connection was blocked off. Anything could happen while they were asleep. And the thought scared her. Had the Dementors taken them over? Did they try to take her half of their soul? What was going on in the outside world? Ginny closed her eyes, waiting for something to happen, but she knew nothing would. She was stuck here, in her mind. Probably not insane, yet, although she didn't know; if only somebody could help her, the thought had some warmth to it. Warmth, the tingling feeling was good to think about. The room wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either. Ginny would've liked to have a nice fire or what muggles called 'air-conditioning-, but alas, she did not. What she really wanted was Harry at the moment; but he was probably trapped to. The one question came to her mind again; what had happened?_

_ Her hand made its way to where her pendant was always rested, and she was secretly happy she actually had it on. If this was part of their bond, or if she was dead, at least she had her pendant. It gave her a small reassurance. A small reassurance she was alive; a small reassurance she would wake up soon. It wasn't much, but it was something at least. Something good and light to think about; a happy thought to keep her from crying or screaming, it was worthwhile._

_ If she was dead, Ginny supposed she should think about her life, so she did. She wasn't ready to fight this yet, so she thought. Her life had never been easy, unlike what her brothers might have thought. Memories. . . ._

XXX

_**Ginny sat on her bed, sighing. A few more months until she could go to Hogwarts, but her four brothers who still attended Hogwarts were at the school. Charlie was in Romania, and Bill was in Egypt. It was mostly just her and Molly, her mother, and she missed the bangs and pings of the summer. No, she just missed having the ability to go where she wanted without being asked where she was going. She wanted to not be treated like a child anymore. And yet she still was. "I just want to be treated indifferently," she muttered.**_

_** In truth, Ginny was treated like a child only because she was the youngest Weasley, as the seventh child, and the first girl in seven generations. Seven, seven; what was with the number seven? She didn't know. Nor did she want to know. Ginny just wanted to be treated like one of her brothers, not being the 'special' one. Ron was jealous of her because of this, and Fred and George were extremely protective of her. Now that she thought about it. . . . George was protective of her friend Luna Lovegood too. But then again, Luna was like part of the family, so that made sense. But still, she didn't want to be the baby in the family anymore. She was almost eleven years old!**_

_** "Letters from Percy, Ron, and Fred and George," her mother called out to her, and she immediately went to fetch the letters and she read the Twins' one first.**_

_** They were getting in trouble, again, but that was no surprise. They talked about Harry, and since Ron didn't say who this 'Harry' was, she didn't exactly know, although her suspicions were that it was Harry Potter. He seemed like a nice kid at the train station, maybe albeit shyer one than she expected, but nice nonetheless. It was kind of silly of her to want to go see him, but an aura of darkness seemed to radiate from him. Not like You-Know-Who, but rather like he had been hurt before. And Ginny didn't like that at all. Not to mention Harry Potter was quieter than she expected, much quieter. He just seemed like a quiet person at Kings Cross, so she didn't question it. But since Harry was supposed to stay with them for the summer, if he was still like that, then she would question it. It wasn't normal for a kid to be so silent, but then again Harry was not a normal boy. Although, she didn't like to think of him that way, even though she hadn't met him yet; surely he wasn't smitten with fame, since Ron was friends with him. Not to mention he was in Gryffindor, if he had been selfish he would've been in Slytherin. But that didn't matter at the moment. . . . Did it? She really didn't know, but her brothers and Harry would be here in less than a month! What was she going to do?**_

XXX

_Now that Ginny thought about it, that one day was a hilarious one. Molly was fretting back and forth, trying to make sure that Harry would be satisfied at the Burrow, and Arthur, well, he was having troubles at the Ministry. It was ironic, really. They hadn't become a tight-knit bunch since she was the only Weasley to not be in Hogwarts yet, but she and her parents were still pretty much family, so they got along well. Not that they didn't get alone well before, but it was just that she was closer to the twins and Bill than anybody else in her family, but she really couldn't help it. She remembered when she was so worried about what house she was going to be in at Hogwarts at one point._

_ Now that she thought about it. . . . Ginny remembered what the Sorting Hat had said to her, and she had been confused at the time, to say in the least. More confused about something than ever; it had stated something she hadn't thought was possible. . . ._

XXX

"_**Weasley, Ginny," McGonagall called out, and the red haired waif sprung up to go sit on the stool.**_

_** Once she had sat down, the Transfiguration Professor put the Sorting Hat on her head, and Ginny stiffened as she heard a voice come into her head, "Ah, yes, wait no! I thought something was suspicious, but it seems that I was partially correct. Four of you here at the exact same time. . . . Interesting indeed, to say in the least; but let's take a look at you. Bravery, more so than your brothers, but you don't want to be treated like the youngest, I see," the Hat said mentally.**_

_** Ginny thought up the words, not wanting anybody to hear her, "What do you mean by four? And I'm not that special!"**_

_** The Hat laughed, "Not special, eh? Very unselfish of you to say that; Slytherin won't do for you, but I wouldn't put you in there anyways. You belong in. . . . GRYFFINDOR," the hat shouted out loud finally.**_

_** Sighing in relief, Ginny hopped off the stool and ran over to sit down with her brother and Harry. She didn't know why, but the first years seemed wary of her, like holding the little black book she had was evil. It wasn't, though! It was just a book, nothing more and nothing less. Only one girl with dirty blonde hair didn't seem wary of her, but then again, the girl had her wand tucked behind her ear and was currently reading an edition of The Quibbler. Something off was about her, although it was more that the girl had an aura of carefree, not like her brothers, and a dreamy expression was on the girl's face as she read her magazine. . . . Upside down; yes, there was something strange about the girl. She didn't know the girl's name, since she had been thinking about other things when the rest of her first year classmates had been selected into their houses. Although, she had met Colin Creevey, who was an excited muggleborn student with a camera and a love for the world he belonged to. Honestly, Ginny found his attitude quite humorous.**_

XXX

_BOOM!_

_ Ginny's eyes fluttered open, and she looked around. What on Earth was going on? She couldn't think straight. . . . NO! She almost screamed as she felt the ground shake. Something was going on in the outside world, or maybe even the living world and she didn't like it. Ginny needed to help them, but how? How could you help people when you were trapped? How could you? She really didn't know, but she knew that she needed Harry, __**now**__._

_ "Harry!" she gasped as she felt her chest tightening._

XXX

"What's wrong with them?" Hermione cried out when the group returned; Harry and Ginny lay lifeless in Remus and Tonks' arms.

"We don't know," Mary shook her head, and Hermione drew in a sharp take of breath, "They were fighting the Dementors, ruthless fighting, more like it. Ginny, she. . . . Collapsed to the ground, screaming like all hell was on the loose; when she got back up," Mary tried to speak again, before she let out a quiet sob.

"No, they can't be!" Ron's face was pale as bone, looking at his sister's and brother in-law's forms.

"They're not dead," Molly came running in and felt the insides of their wrists, "Passed out, possibly?"

The pale blonde girl that had came in with them shook her head, before she replied, "They are lost."

"How can they be lost?" Draco looked at her, his grey eyes looking at her with coldness.

The girl shrugged, and he scoffed. "Draco!" Hermione scolded, "She's not even ten years old! Act more mature of yourself, you prat!"

The fifteen year old Slytherin rolled his eyes before he got up off the chair he was sitting on and left the dining room. The nerve of him! Hermione wasn't the one to call somebody that name, but honestly, he deserved it. Picking on a young girl like that! Draco wasn't acting very mature, and Hermione knew he could be acting like his age very well, but he didn't. Turning her head, she gasped as Ginny convulsed, Ginny's chest rising and tightening quickly before her chest fell back, and everybody looked shocked. "Well, that settles it, they're alive," Fred nodded, his face pale.

XXX

_Ginny tried to stand up, but she fell to her knees rather quickly. She hated this, hated it with the deepest parts of her heart. She hated being separated by the Bond, she hated it. There were a lot of things that Ginny hated, but this was at the upmost top of them. Her breath caught, and she couldn't find enough air to breathe. Her vision was becoming cloudy. Was she waking up? Was she dying? Was she being revived if she was already dead? "Harry. . . ." she muttered._

_ She was about to fall to the ground, but two hands caught her rather quickly. Black spots were darting back and forth in her vision. She was dying. . . . She knew it. That had to be the only logical explanation. "Very funny, Ginny," he laughed, and her eyes widened before she tried to turn around, "Nope. You're not taking this well. Damn bond thought it would be funny to punish us. . . . Again; at least this time we did something punishable for."_

_ "Harry!" she breathed, before twisting in his arms and turning to face him._

_ "You're bond-mate is here," he rolled his eyes, "As always."_

_ "Very funny, Harry," she sighed, "Where were you?"_

_ He shrugged, "Not in a room like this. Lucius Malfoy has just been driven to the brink of insanity, by the way. I'm about ready to go and try to call St. Mungo's to help him out. But he doesn't deserve it."_

_ "You mean you had another vision? Harry! Those shouldn't be happening."_

_ "But they do."_

_ "We need to go to Dumbledore about this!"_

_ Harry's teeth clenched and he said, "No. If we do, all hell will break loose."_

_ "How, Harry?" Ginny demanded._

_ "You don't understand," he shook his head and she glared at him._

_ "I don't understand? Harry! Do you even know who you're talking to? I'm your bond-mate, Harry James Potter, so don't you dare say I don't understand, because I do. And we're stuck together, so really, you're bringing us unhappiness. Don't do that! Don't laugh at me!" she sighed as he just shook his head, his laughter coming out._

_ "Not to mention the pain you were in," he joked, and her eyes began to water; and he looked down at her. "I didn't mean it that way, Gin, I really didn't."_

_ "I know you didn't, it just really does hurt."_

_ "Well then, do you want to wake up now?"_

_ She smiled and nodded._

XXX

Ginny's eyes slowly fluttered open, and she realized she was back in their bed. A yawn came from right next to her, and a loud yawn came from right next to her. "Prat," she giggled.

_What?_

_ I said you were a prat._

_ But why am I a prat, again?_

"Because you had to yawn loudly; that's why."

"Very funny, Ginny," Harry yawned, again.

The smell of breakfast came to them, and Ginny said, "Breakfast? I didn't think we were. . . . Asleep that long," she finished.

Harry shrugged before they got ready for the day. Everything was just like usual. . . . Well, almost everything. There was still the fact that they now had the Dark Lord chasing after them, as well as ten of his most dangerous followers. There was still the fact that Draco and Narcissa Black, since they successfully changed their surname to Black from Malfoy, were living at Grimmauld Place. There was still the fact that that they were soul-bonded. And well, there was still the fact that they weren't your average witch and wizard. Yes, there were all of those things.

Today was the day they were going to Diagon Alley to get their stuff, now that she thought about it. She and Harry had plans to go to Gringotts, because there were some things that they had to clarify since they were considered of age. That was a sort of scary thing to think about, but the overall trip was going to be awkward. How would they get to where they wanted to go without the rest of the family finding them? Would they have guards too? Ginny sighed as the two of them walked downstairs, her tensions running high.

_There's nothing to worry about._

_ Yes there is!_

_ Oh? What're you worrying about, Gin?_

_ Everything; Harry, we have the whole day to worry about! There's Gringotts, our family, trying to get to the Wizarding Bank, everything!_

_ Relax. We'll figure it out._

For that, she had no response, but she couldn't very well respond anyways, as they had reached the dining room by then, which was already occupied by the Weasleys, Sirius and Mary, and Hermione. The conversation was alive and pleasant, although they didn't stop talking when the two of them came in, like Ginny thought they would. She was relieved by this, but the two of them didn't say anything as they warily sat down, ironically right next to Fred and George, as Luna was sitting on the opposite side of the table. "Good you two are up," Fred nodded in response to them sitting down, "'Mione's been complaining for the entire first portion of breakfast."

"I did not!" Hermione replied.

"Joking, 'Mione, joking," George rolled his eyes, and Luna looked up from her breakfast, her eyes wide, like usual.

"You were not," Luna countered, "And you know it."

"Ack, she's got us there, Forge," Fred sighed.

"Ha, ha, but I'm not buying it," Hermione scowled, before turning back to the other conversation that was going on.

"She's worse than Mad-Eye," George groaned, although it was in a hushed whisper, before adding, "Impressive work you did last night, real impressive; she's kind of jealous, although 'Mione won't admit it."

"It wasn't that impressive," Ginny fought defensively.

"Sure it wasn't," Luna rolled her eyes, "Even we couldn't have done anything like that. Neither could have Sirius or Mary, you two really were brilliant."

"If you say so," Ginny began, before she realized something, "You're Patronus last night was a tiger, and it shouldn't have been. . . ."

"Turns out we weren't tigers," the dirty blonde haired girl nodded, "We're swans. Pretty strange, considering the fact that George's animagus form is a red swan," she finished.

"You mean you two completed your animagus forms?" Harry asked, shock radiating from him.

"Ron, Fred, and Hermione almost did, all of our Patronus forms came out after you fainted, since a Dementor is Luna and I's worst fear," George nodded absentmindedly, although his ears were slightly pink from what Luna had said.

"So that's what Draco was talking about. Wait; wouldn't that have made the people at the MoM given us a few letters because of those two?"

"Nope, turns out the Black Manor is warded, so if they do magic occasionally, it won't harm them. The DRRUS workers would've given us a few Howlers if the wards hadn't worked, and they didn't," Luna responded.

"Wait, when did you complete your animagus forms?"

"Yesterday; don't ask."

"I'll try not to," Harry said.

_Sarcasm much, Harry?_

_ What? I really am interested in this stuff, although it seems that we're not going to get any answers._

_ It's their privacy._

_ I know, Gin, I know._

_ Are you sure?_

_ Yes I'm sure, nosy much are you?_

She harrumphed in reply to that. She wasn't nosy, she was just worried about him, the pack, her family, Sirius and Mary, everybody. Ginny could tell he was also worried although he was better at hiding it than she was. Much better than she was, and she knew why, although she didn't like to think about that at all. It wasn't something either of them liked to talk about freely, and she most certainly didn't want to bring the topic up in their mental conversation. So instead, she drank from her glass, trying to wash down her fears. Molly had come in while they were talking and given them their breakfasts, along with what looked like tea, although Ginny wasn't hungry at all. She felt uneasy and restless instead. Harry didn't eat anything either, because he shared similar thoughts like her. Their tensions were running quite high on that particular day, even though he wouldn't admit it. So much was at stake if some unknown Death Eaters did something about them when they walked through Diagon Alley; anything could happen. And that's what she didn't like.

So much to worry about; it was almost overwhelming. She felt Harry put his hand on her shoulder. _Relax, breathe, _he advised.

With nobody noticing, she took in a deep breath before she managed to actually eat something and wash it down with some jasmine tea. Harry did the same, before Molly and Arthur asked everybody to get ready to go to Diagon Alley, and again, Ginny took another deep breath. _Oh I hate the nerves of this._

A small chuckle escaped Harry's lips when he heard that, although she wasn't exactly mad at him. He was trying to lighten the mood, really, so it helped better to know that he was trying. And it worked, some, although not by much.

"We need to be going!" Molly called out, rushing through the halls of the Black Manor with amazing speed.

"Not by much, though," came a reply after two sudden 'pops' filled the air.

Molly appeared once again, and looked at the Twins before saying, "Just because you are of age doesn't mean you get to show off your magic all the time! Act your age!"

"Yes Mum," Fred nodded, before he disapparated.

"And to think we'll be learning that this year," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Mum's going to have a heart attack once we can do that," Ginny agreed, although she wouldn't use it _**all **_the time, like her brothers did.

"We're ready!" Hermione called out, before Fred apparated back in.

Yes, Diagon Alley was going to be a fun twist indeed.

**A/N: I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but my entire schedule had been flipped for those days I haven't updated, and we had to go out of our state today, so I couldn't really write much, not to mention I had writer's block. And this is another rushed chapter, and I'm sorry about that! I'm trying to get the story on its feet per se, and now that I've done that, I can work on it better now. Like I said, I have loads of ideas, it's just deciding which idea is good or bad, and if the idea is good then where to put it. I have it figured out now, but I wanted to update, and this was the idea I had. And I'm sorry for the shorter chapter, but I needed to cut it off so the next chapter will be easier to write. And I made the first half of this chapter some of Ginny's memories, because in EtF, I do it for Harry, and it just made sense to have some of hers in this that weren't about Riddle and the Horcrux diary.**

**Review by Darrell-deam: I enjoyed this first chapter; you seem to like taking things off on a tangent. It will be interesting to see where this leads. I'm looking forward to many chapters to come, keep up the good work!**

**Response: I haven't been a fanfiction writer for long, and it is similar to writing fantasy writing, but yet so different. I have to decide so much stuff, but have it follow in the plot lines of the physics of JKR's world of Harry Potter. I'm improving, but it's nice to know that you're reading and critiquing it where it needs that. I'm glad you're looking forward to this, and thank you for the review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Pictures

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

The trip to Diagon Alley had gone well, although Harry and Ginny were unable to escape the clutches of Molly Weasley. She had been watching them closely, as if she knew they were planning to escape, and they couldn't leave her sight range without Molly appearing a few seconds later. So, they only got to Gringotts to take some money from their vault, sadly. But, they got their school supplies, which was a plus.

They had gotten to Kings Cross Station quite easily, thanks to the help of some 'non-git Ministry workers' or that was at least how Sirius put it. Those people had somehow successfully gotten them some Ministry cars to use, and they all got to the muggle-part of the train station fairly easy. Tonks, Mad-Eye, and a few other aurors who were also Order members accompanied the Weasleys and Potters. Although, it had been interesting to see Tonks as a brown haired and blue-eyed woman who looked as if she had just finished off the last of her schooling; Ginny had stated that if she hadn't known Tonks herself, she would've thought they were being followed by a muggle, because the metamorphmagus had also decided to wear some muggle clothes.

So, there they were, walking up to the barrier between the Hogwarts Express and the muggle train station, when Sirius decided to pull Harry and Ginny aside very quickly, to show them something. He pulled out a rather old picture, one that had not been destroyed by time or anything else, and Harry's voice got caught in his throat. The people there were smiling and waving up at the camera, and there were five young people that Harry, although not surprised, was happy to see. James and Lily Potter were smiling up at him, and James had his left arm on her shoulder. Remus was also smiling, his face not as scarred, and his hair, Harry assumed since the picture was in black and white, not as grey. Sirius and Mary also stood there, and Sirius was waving as she planted a kiss on his cheek, before she turned and waved at the camera also. "The original Order of the Phoenix," Sirius said, "Well, not original, since Dumbledore formed a smaller one during Grindelwald's rein as a Dark Lord, but we really don't count that one. There's James, Lily, Remus, Mary and I. We were engaged at the time, kind of funny if you think about it. There's Mad-Eye and Dumbledore; as well as Frank and Alice Longbottom. Not long after your parents were murdered the two of them were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, although Bellatrix was originally a Black," Sirius scowled, "Don't tell anybody else, but Frank and Alice are Neville's parents, actually. And there's Marlene McKinnon, she and her whole family were murdered by Death Eaters. Gideon and Fabian Prewett, your uncles, Ginny, we saw them get murdered; Remus, Mary, Gideon, Fabian and I were fighting a horde of Death Eaters, along with Benjy Fenwick and Edgar Bones. Edgar was killed with a blasting curse that blasted out his heart first thing, and Benjy died not long after. Gideon and Fabian fought like war soldiers back from the dead, but they died at the end, letting the three of us escape. Xenophilius and Klara Lovegood, Luna's parents; Hestia Jones and Elphias Dodge were also part of the Order. There are plenty more, but you guys really need to be going."

Startled, Harry realized he was right, and he looked at Ginny, who was crying. "Thank you Sirius, for showing us that," Harry nodded, and was surprised when his godfather gave them the picture.

"Keep it, Mary has one anyways," Sirius nodded, and Ginny thanked him while she wiped away the tears she had with her sleeve.

_I never thought. . . ._

_I know._

Nodding, the two of them ran through the barrier, getting on the Hogwarts Express Prefect Carriage just in time, but not before the train lurched forward, causing them to fall to the ground rather quickly. The sixth and seventh year Slytherin prefects laughed, although Draco and Daphne Greengrass did not as the two red-faced Gryffindor prefects found their seats. The Head Boy, which was a Ravenclaw named Luke Bridge, and the Head Girl, a Hufflepuff named Courtney Willow, gave them a lecture about keeping the safety of the school and its students in check. The lecture lasted for a good portion of the beginning of train ride, before the Head Boy and Girl assigned them their patrols to watch for any signs of rough housing or bullying in the corridors or compartments. They were then allowed to go back to the compartments, which gave Harry and Ginny some time to talk to their friends, and hopefully eat some of the snacks that might have been left over, before it was their turn to patrol the train's corridors. To Harry, though, it felt sort of strange to wear the Prefect badge, since he had originally thought that Ron and Hermione would have been the two fifth year Gryffindor prefects. _That's just the nerves talking._

He snorted as they made their way, searching for their friends. _Yeah right, didn't you think Ron and Hermione would've been Prefects too, Ginny?_

_. . . . You got me there._

"Told you so," he chuckled under his breath, before they spotted their friend's compartment, and the two of them quickly ducked inside.

"What took you so long?" Hermione asked.

"The Head Boy and Girl wouldn't stop lecturing all of us. Frankly, it was beyond annoying," Ginny sighed.

_Oh no!_

_What is it?_

_I forgot to tell Mum and Dad goodbye!_

_Crap._

"Are you two hungry?" Fred tried when they lost focus on the outside world, and Ginny immediately snapped out of it, before she turned to see him holding some chocolate frogs.

"Ravenous," she answered, before opening one of them and biting off the candy's head before it had a chance to run away.

Harry also accepted the chocolate, before the two of them started eating rather quickly. When their friends questioned why, Harry answered, "They gave us schedules to patrol the corridors, and our turn is in about five minutes, and then every few hours or so after that."

"Yikes, don't they think that you guys need to eat?" Luna questioned, before she added, "Speaking of which, I hope they serve pudding at the opening feast."

"Dunno, although they did seem kind of crazy with their newfound power," Ginny spoke up, "Kind of interesting how excited but strict they seemed. Not really that important, is it?"

"With all that's been going on lately, it does seem kind of suspicious," Hermione said, then asked, "Who's Head Boy and Girl?"

"Luke Bridge and Courtney Willow," Ginny replied.

"Oh really; wow, we saw them at the train station. They're not bad, just workaholics," Luna shook her head, and that ended the discussion.

Nobody questioned how Luna knew that.

When the time came, Harry and Ginny left the compartment and patrolled the corridors, all the while having a silent conversation in their heads. Many of the students didn't talk to them when they walked past, although some of them raised their eyebrows when they saw the two Gryffindor Prefect badges. At one point, though, the beautiful bliss and ecstasy had to come to an end. They passed a compartment where Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and a few other 'dark' Slytherins were sitting at. Harry glanced over it, where Pansy, with her pug face, looked up just in time and smirked, before she opened the compartment door. "Hello Potters," she sneered, "I see you've become prefects, how _wonderful_," she spat.

"Please go back into your compartment," Harry spoke calmly, and she raised her eyebrows when he added, "You wouldn't want to receive a detention so early in the school year, would you?"

"The school year hasn't even started yet," Pansy countered.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can bully us, so please go back into your compartment, Miss Parkinson," Ginny said.

The pug-faced girl seemed to ponder this for a moment, and Harry thought if she was deciding not to try and hex them or not. "Fine," she growled, "But you two are pathetic anyways," and with that, Pansy went back inside the compartment and closed the door.

_Was she scared of us?_

_I think so._

_That's. . . . Pretty unbelievable, honestly, isn't it?_

_You got that right, now c'mon; I want to finish this patrolling off without having to see her again._

Nodding, Harry walked with Ginny towards the end of the train, and didn't really find any other students causing any trouble. But Pansy's reaction worried him. Normally, she would be much more . . . . Aggressive towards him and everybody else in the pack, but this time she wasn't. It would be interesting, except the black sheep in her reactions caused him to ponder what happened, again, during the beginning of his fourth year, when Draco had started acting strange. _You're putting too much thought into this._

_I know, there's just something fishy about it, and Draco wouldn't tell anything to us when we tried to actually get the information out of it._

Although she wouldn't admit it, Harry knew that she was also curious about all of the things going on lately. The events that seemed to swarm around the two had a sort of claustrophobic feeling, and neither of them liked it at all.

Harry and Ginny were almost to the end of the train, when Neville Longbottom got out of a compartment and was somehow able to trip; dropping the potted plant he was holding. "Neville, are you okay?" Ginny asked, shocked, as the boy got up, still holding his plant.

"I'm fine," he muttered, before looking at them. His face was red, and his blonde hair was in a mess, "Sorry about that. Seamus almost blew himself up, again."

Harry took a chance to glance over at the compartment, and saw that Neville was right. Seamus and Dean were standing in a room that was charred black, their expressions shocked. "What did you do, Seamus?" he asked the boy, who immediately looked up at him, shocked.

"Sorry Potter! Accidentally caught the seat on fire, before," Seamus didn't finish. But Harry was observant about one thing. The sandy-haired boy never called him by his surname, not that he hung out with the fifth year too much, but still.

Ginny took out her wand at the moment, and said, "_Reparo_," before the compartment turned back to normal. "There, just don't try to blow anything up again, because I really don't want to have to explain that to Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore."

Dean nodded, and the two prefects left the three fifth year boys to their own devices. Harry was surprised that this could be so eventful, since the Head Boy and Girl were pretty convinced that nothing strange was going to happen. But, he supposed, strange things always happened to the two of them, and this caused Ginny to snicker, before those giggles turned into full-blown laughs in their minds, although Harry chuckled too at her enthusiasm.

The rest of their patrolling was uneventful, and the two of them were able to get back to their compartment just as two other prefects walked past. "What took you so long?" Ron asked when they had sat down.

"Pansy thought it would be funny to try and threaten us; and Seamus almost blew up the compartment he was sharing with Dean and Neville," Ginny answered.

"Blimey, how'd they do that?" Fred exclaimed.

"Dunno, but it was bloody creepy. Supposedly, Seamus caught the seat on fire."

The rest of the ride was fairly enjoyable. They all chatted and enjoyed the remaining snacks that the other five in the pack had bought from the Snack Cart; and Harry and Ginny also had a private conversation inside their minds. The ecstasy of their life so far had been shattered quite a few times before, but the Azkaban outbreak and the questioning of their sanity hit them like no other. It was honestly cruel and hostile for anybody to believe in the rubbish that the Daily Prophet told, but people believed it, and Harry knew it was only because they thought that since Skeeter was gone that the wizarding newspaper would be telling the truth from now on. But in reality, somebody in the Ministry, more than likely the Minister of Magic himself, were bribing the newspaper to tell lies. And it was honestly unnerving to Harry that anybody believed that crap. But somehow, they did.

The picture of the original Order of the Phoenix, during the ride, seemed to burn in Harry's pocket, as if it actually was demanding it to be looked at again. So many people died from the Original Order; although Harry was pretty sure he spotted Molly and Arthur in the back. But still, so many people lost their lives fighting against Voldemort. Would it be like that again? And who all would die because of the Second Wizarding War? Would any of the Weasleys die? Would they die? Well, that was a more than likely already answered question, but it still had him occasionally ask if they would live or not. Would any of his newfound family perish during this damned War? Ginny was silent while he pondered this, because she also had the same fears. She didn't want to see any of her family die, or anybody else that was her friend or knew her. She didn't want to see anybody die, but Cedric already had. Peter Pettigrew, although he deserved it, had. Bertha Jorkins had. Frank Bryce had. Already, quite a few had died, and that saddened her whenever she thought about it, or whenever he did.

Neither of them really spoke in their thoughts after that, rather, they shared feelings and pictures of their worries. The rest of the pack did notice, however, when the two of them finally pulled away from the conversation, although none of them said anything. Harry and Ginny didn't even exchange glances, but they did seem to sink in on themselves with worry and fear, not with sleepiness. At least, they had their school robes on, because Hermione had to literally shake their shoulders to get them back into reality. "Guys, it's time to go," she said, and they nodded, both feeling rather queasy.

The pack made their way off the train, which had finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station. Harry could see a silhouette of Hagrid, holding a lantern, shouting in the distance, "Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere," the echoes were a good reminder for him and Ginny that not everything was filled with despair and ominous questioning.

They moved over to the carriages, which were being led by the familiar reptilian-like black and winged horses, which were thestrals. Neville walked past them, and visibly blanched at the sight of them, as did George. Luna, however, took out a small pouch, and fed the thestrals that was leading the closest available carriage what looked to be some type of meat, which the creature gladly accepted. "So those are thestrals," George muttered, looking like he was about to lose his snack.

"You've never seen them before?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Err. . . . What exactly are you three looking at? There's nothing there!" Ron insisted as George shook his head.

"She's been blocking the memories for the entire time; I guess it was a side effect of not being completely stabilized yet, and now I see them," he said.

"Thestrals are creatures that can only be seen by those who have witnessed and understand death," Luna replied to Ron's question, with a casual tone, while she put the pouch away, "And come on, Georgie, you're just as sane as I am." And with that, Luna climbed onto the carriage and took her wand out from its place behind her ear, which was one of the things that had never been lost after her father's death.

Hermione climbed in next, before the carriage suddenly lurched forward at a fast pace, which left them to watch the Forbidden Forest and other things to pass by them. Nobody really said anything, until Hermione questioned, "How can there be something pulling the carriages when there's nothing there?"

"Well, something has to pull the carriage," Luna responded with perturbing logic that made the eerie silence brought back.

To be honest, Harry was suspecting something, anything, to cause their ride to become a mess. Death Eaters were most likely to him, but anything else could have been possible. His heart was quite literally pounding in his chest as he struggled with a wolf's instincts. Ginny was not much better off, although she was able to control it better. "Harry, are you okay?" Luna suddenly asked, and through Ginny's mind, he saw that one of his eyes was yellow.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered.

"The nerves got you?" Fred asked, and both of them nodded.

With force, Harry blinked and started to concentrate on the trees that were rushing past them, and the ghostly form of the black horse in front of them. When Harry had first seen the thestrals, to be honest, he thought he was looking at something brought from the gates of hell. But, they weren't devil-horses, in fact; thestrals were actually quite friendly, which was a relief to him. Besides, now that he thought about it, if they weren't friendly, why would Dumbledore allow them to be at Hogwarts? Indeed, it was quite a mystery to why they were allowed here in the first place, since nobody but a handful of students could probably see them, if even that many. Harry wondered how Neville gained the ability to see them, since he had to have witnessed a death. Luna, well, she had told them that her mother had died in a freak Potions accident when the young waif was nine years old, and Luna had witnessed it. Then there was the death of her father when they went to the Swiss Alps, although both were quite personal subjects that Luna rarely even talked about. They only knew about certain subjects when Luna decided to tell them, not when they could wrest them from her, nor would they ever do that. And she wouldn't even tell them if they tried anyways, that much all of them knew. Luna kept many secrets to herself, and even George, it seemed, did not know all of them, which was rather shocking to Harry, to be perfectly honest.

The nighttime and the moon lit dirt path were two rather beautiful sights to see as the carriage rushed on in the evening. Although it wasn't that late, when they returned to Hogwarts, it always seemed to be dark out, which wasn't really ever questioned, since it seemed like a perfectly natural thing. And it really was, since the school itself was surrounded by the Forbidden Forest or large hills off in the distance, to help it make itself to not be seen by muggles in broad daylight, not that it would ever be seen as the grand castle it really was. As Hermione had said, in _Hogwarts: a History_, by Bathilda Bagshot, the school would appear as an old castle in disrepair.

The pounding in his chest finally ceased, and Harry was able to relax and enjoy the scenery at last. It wasn't that big of a deal, since he had seen it many times before, but it was always still interesting to see it anyways. _You're like a kid in a candy store._

_You are too, Ginny._

_I guess you're right._

The carriage finally pulled to a stop, and they all got off, but not before they were met with a gruesome sight. It seemed that Pansy couldn't help but hex a few of the second years, who were currently shrinking in on themselves at the sight of the fifth year Slytherin. "STOP IT!" Ginny screeched, causing Pansy to pause and turn to look at them, "DETENTION FOR A WEEK! We do not attack anybody here at Hogwarts!"

Ginny then got out a blank piece of parchment and wrote on it very quickly, before giving the slip to Pansy, and Ginny said stiffly, "After the opening feast you will give this to your Head of House."

Pansy scowled, but obeyed, albeit unwillingly. Harry looked at the second years, to see luckily none of them were harmed badly, but they all probably needed to go to Madam Pomfrey. He felt Ginny's agreement, so he turned to them, and asked, "Would you guys like to go to Madam Pomfrey?"

The second years nodded as Ginny said to the rest of the pack, "We're going to get them to Madam Pomfrey then we'll join you guys."

They all nodded, and Harry and Ginny led the second years up to the castle. McGonagall was already there, and she gave a twisted frown as she asked in a shrill tone, "What happened?"

"We had somebody hexing them," Harry answered her, "We gave that person a weeks' worth of detention, but they need to be taken up to the Hospital Wing for some Calming Draught and other things."

"I'll get Madam Pomfrey to go there," McGonagall nodded, before she turned back to the wide-eyed first years.

The two prefects led the second years, two Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff, up to the Hospital Wing, unlocked the door, and assigned them each a bed. The second years looked at them in shock and awe, which frankly made Harry slightly uncomfortable. That stayed the same for several minutes, until the Hogwarts matron came in, her face in a full grimace and she said to Harry and Ginny, "Thank you for bringing them up here. You can go back to the opening feast now."

Nodding, the two of them left the Hospital Wing and walked through the corridors down to the Great Hall, although neither of them felt very hungry after that incident. It was just cruel, in so many ways, to do that to anybody at Hogwarts in general. Well, people did it all the time, yes, even Ginny had. But to make a second year's first trip to Hogwarts by carriage was just absolutely hostile. _I wonder why it's like that now._

_The escapees from Azkaban probably got her thinking she could act like them, but she can't. It's not fair to anyone, especially her. You would think that Pansy would actually want to keep a low profile, since it would mean a better chance for. . . ._

_I know Harry. Maybe it's because of the bloody Daily Prophet? We really don't know._

They finally made it to the Great Hall, and were able to sneak in without being noticed by that many people. They settled into their seats, exhausted, while their friends looked at them incredulously, although they didn't say anything since Harry and Ginny helped themselves to their dinner and ate the meal rather quickly. When they finished, Luna turned o them and asked, "Well?"

"We got the second years to the Hospital Wing. Honestly, we don't know why Pansy's been acting like that. She actually threatened to hex us on the train, but didn't do it when we said we would give a detention to her. Her attitude might have to do with the Azkaban mass-outbreak, but honestly, I'm not sure that's the case or not. She can't just go out and hex people, especially the younger years," Harry said.

"Something is fishy about all of this going on lately. Have your scars been hurting lately?" Luna questioned, and when they nodded, she added, "So, he's been causing a lot of trouble lately. Not to mention this is all too crazy, with Narcissa and Draco suddenly having a change in heart. Think it could have to do with people being forced to choose sides?"

"That's a reasonable answer. Narcissa, well, she's never been a Death Eater, because she was allowed to escape. That would mean she's a defected ally. So is Draco, since he never got the Dark Mark. Wait, now that I think about it, do you think that some of the Slytherins actually. . . . Joined," Hermione responded thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't put it past them. Most of the dark wizards and witches came from Slytherin. That's not to say that there haven't been other dark wizards and witches from the other houses, because there have been. But ever since Grindelwald's time, it seems that most of the students there have gone dark. Not to mention the blood purity is another factor that rose during Grindelwald's rein. It was there before, but the mention of muggles hurting young wizards and witches caused the spike to happen. People began to fear muggleborns, and saying insults that I'm not going to repeat. Septimus even said it was one of the most havoc-stricken times, that was, until _he_ came into power," George said darkly.

"Not to mention the fact that many of the Slytherin families before Grindelwald's time were dark," Fred said.

"That's true."

"But if they were acting like this, that would mean they thought they could get away with it! Wouldn't Pansy and the others want to keep a low profile, to at least prevent people from becoming suspicious?" Hermione asked.

"You would think so. But all the rubbish the Daily Prophet has been making, I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled off the 'I'm innocent' attitude, because the Ministry is denying that Voldemort has returned, and they're also bribing the newspaper too," Harry muttered.

"I'm not sure why anyone believes the Prophet anymore. Honestly, it's clear that they write bloody lies anymore. But people don't think that you're telling the truth? Dumbledore, I could understand, he's getting on in his years. But Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived? They should know better," Luna scowled.

"Some people believe it, others don't," Ginny sighed.

"I really wish I could personally hit the truth into them," Luna said.

At that moment, the desserts appeared, and that caused the conversation to come to a temporarily halt. Harry and Ginny both got the same things, although it was partially because they had shared tastes before, and some things clashed horribly, and they didn't want to taste the outcomes of those combinations ever again. Both of them felt the stares that they were getting during this time, but neither of them really paid attention to those.

It wasn't until Luna asked them, "Do you know who that lady is up there? She's wearing too much pink."

Both of them turned their heads at the same time, and Harry was met with the face he hadn't seen since Sirius' trial, the color quickly leaving his face. He remembered her counter to the release of Sirius, as she had stated that they had had no proof, until Pettigrew had been carried in. She had been in black robes then, but now wore pink ones, with a matching pink bow on top of her head. Her face was almost identical to a toad's, and her mousy brown hair was curled tightly. She was currently looking at all the students, a wry smile on her face. Frankly, Harry didn't like her one bit. He knew she was blood purist, and that meant bad news for all of them here.

_It's her._

_The damn toad is back for revenge._

Harry's blanched face then turned into a scowl. This was bad, very bad. What on earth was the Ministry thinking? Because if she was here, that probably meant that the MoM was trying to interfere with Hogwarts. And that meant more than just trouble for Harry and Ginny. "Well, who is she?" Luna asked again.

"Dolores Umbridge, she's a Ministry worker and she's on the Wizengamot," Ginny explained, "She tried to keep Padfoot from being freed. This is bad, to put it very bluntly."

"Umbridge, huh; Dad talks about her, and he said she's a strong blood purist. Acts even worse than Lucius Malfoy, supposedly," Fred snarled.

_So, the Ministry wants to interfere with Hogwarts?_

_I thought we already discussed this._

_We did, but it just seems like such a stupid thing to do. Dumbledore would never allow this._

_That's the key. If Dumbledore didn't allow it, it means Fudge did this of his own accord. Or somebody else in the Ministry did, but I'm honestly betting it was Fudge._

_He probably did, and I don't like this one bit._

_I don't either, but there's going to be hell to pay if Umbridge thinks we're going to put up with her._

_Are sure you not mirroring Fred, George, or Luna? Because you sure are acting like them, you know._

_I'm not, although those three are probably going to cause a riot before we do._

_True._

"Wonder how she's going to pull this off," Ron mused, pushing his treacle tart aside, "She really can't think that you three won't give her a hard time?"

George, Fred, and Luna's grimaces suddenly turned into grins as Luna answered, "I hope not. Because if she does, then Umbridge won't know what hit her."

George and Luna then went silent, and Luna then scowled, but didn't say anything more. She didn't seem to be very happy, and then turned back to her dessert, still scowling. Although, Harry turned his head to look at Umbridge, and was shocked to find her staring at the seven of them intently, the smile on her face beforehand gone, with a frown in its place; Ginny shuddered at the sight as she too turned to take a glance at the newfound Professor. Umbridge then turned to look at a few more students, the smile back on her face, as if she saw something that she liked in them. Harry felt Ginny's anger at that, the rage just simmering.

_I don't know her, but I already hate her._

_I don't think we'll be the only ones; the toad will make herself unwanted with that much pink, not to mention the Ministry's view on things._

_Oh, I don't doubt she's going to be hated._

_I know you don't._

Harry then turned back to his dessert and began to eat again, and so did Ginny, although she wasn't very hungry anymore. He wasn't either, to tell the truth. But, if they wanted to look normal, they were going to have to act like it too, no matter how much they already hated Umbridge. It was the most logical answer, although it was also the most unsettling one. There was something interesting about this, although he hated to admit it. If the Ministry had allowed Umbridge to work here, although they were not only interfering with Hogwarts, were they trying to keep a watch on Dumbledore and themselves? It was the most outrageous thing, but if they wanted to deny that Voldemort had returned, the Ministry also had to keep a public image. A public image meant that they were trying to keep their cover up, the cover of denial. That was most definitely not a good show, since people already were dying, although the Ministry had said it was just because 'the Azkaban escapees caused the Dementors to also escape', and if Harry didn't know the Prophet hadn't turned to rubbish, he would have almost believed it. Almost, except that the newspaper was writing the same facts over and over again, almost exactly like Skeeter's work. And that was what had originally shocked him when he had seen it. Was Rita Skeeter now writing in secrecy for the Daily Prophet? Harry didn't think so, although he wouldn't put it past the sneaky reporter, who was also an unregistered beetle animagus.

And then there was the whole incident with his uncle and cousin. Although he had never liked Vernon and Dudley, heck, he hated them with his guts, they were still his family. Dementors, of all things, had robbed them of their souls. Harry supposed their souls were trapped inside the Dementor, forever, unless the dark creature was killed. And if there really was an afterlife, would Vernon and Dudley's souls go there? It was almost earth shattering to realize two people in his family had been killed off, and that the Dementors had sided with Voldemort. Harry hadn't thought originally that they would, since the misery of Azkaban was there for them, not to mention the haven from any wizard or witch's use of the Patronus Charm, but it seemed that that was not the case at all. There were still probably more people, muggles and magical people alike, being ripped of their souls, even children. Children who were younger than Hogwarts ages, children who were probably forced to watch their parents suddenly being attacked by an invisible force if they were a muggle; or a black and cloaked creature that was floating, taking a blue orb from their parents' and siblings' mouths. It was sickening, to think that those children were next, the Dementors taking their souls and happiness, before leaving the husk of a soulless body behind, just sitting there, waiting to die not long after from the coldness that a Dementor brought. Entire towns and families were being killed in that fashion, and more were going to come, not to mention the Death Eaters that were now on the loose.

The Death Eaters, they were the second scariest thought. Murdering muggles, doing things to the muggles that Harry couldn't even think of, and doing the same to muggleborns or those who they considered blood traitors; and then it was repeated. Other countries dark wizards and witches were already coming to Britain to join Tom Marvolo Riddle's army, and Harry couldn't help but wonder why they did so. The Americans and Aussies had already recognized that the Dark Lord was back, somehow still alive, so why couldn't magical Britain? Because the Ministry refused to recognize this, people were dying when they shouldn't have been. Some of them dying before they actually had a chance to live and others dying before they even had a chance to scream for help or mercy.

**A/N: And that's where we cut off the chapter. I've updated! Hooray! Again, there was another delay in updates, and I'm very sorry about that, but there were two major things that got me from writing at all on the two days that they happened. The first one was a wedding, of all things! I would have said there would've been a delay, but I pretty much forgot about it, and then my friends and family finally did remind me on the day of the wedding, so I pretty much didn't know until the ceremony arose. And then, I was playing a game that I was actually going to save before it crashed. And since I really don't know when I'm going to get back to the game, I had to redo everything that was unsaved.**

**And I know I did another time skip, but I didn't like how the first time I wrote this chapter turned out. It was just too cliché for me. So, I rewrote it, and this is what came out.**

**Review by Darrell-deam: Well, it was short, but good. I was wondering about the delay in getting another chapter, now we know. I'll expect a 50,000 word chapter first thing in the morning; or not.**

**Response: Yeah, I'm sorry about the delays. I didn't really know late June was going to be such a packed time for me. I can't write that much in one night, though. Thank you for the review!**

**Review by Lilykees: I just found this series and read the whole set straight thru. I love your work and am looking forward to following to the end. I hope the horcrux in Harry is removed soon and they are trained by the Lovegoods.**

**Response: I'm glad that you've enjoyed this series so far! I'm glad that you're looking forward to future chapters, and we'll just have to wait and see what the Lovegoods and everybody else do. Thank you for the review!**


	5. Chapter 4: It's Okay to be Afraid

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

Once the desserts disappeared for the night; Dumbledore than made the move to speak, causing all the students to become quiet, and he said, "Welcome back to another year back at Hogwarts! Or, if you are a first year, welcome to Hogwarts for the first time. If I may remind you, the Forbidden Forest is off-limits on Hogwarts grounds," he looked over to George, Fred, and Luna at that moment, "And as you can see, we have two new teachers on our staff. Professor Grubbly-Plank is substituting for Care of Magical Creatures, as Professor Hagrid is unavailable at the moment. And we also have a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge –"

"_Hem hem,_" said an obnoxious voice, and Dumbledore turned around to see Umbridge standing up, "If I may something, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore nodded as she made her way up to the front of the platform, and smiled, "Hello students; I hope that we can be great friends."

"Not bloody likely," Fred and George muttered.

"I look forward to seeing you in my class, but progress for the sake of progress must be prohibited. Let us preserve what must be preserved. And perfect what can be perfected. Because, this is essential to your learning; and prune practices that out be prohibited. Thank you."

The speech wouldn't have taken so long, except that she paused dramatically after each word, causing many of the students to lose focus. Only Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and a few others were able to listen very intently to her speech, although Ginny already knew what she meant, and frankly, the fourteen year old fifth year was not happy at all. How dare the Ministry do this!

"What did she mean?" Luna asked earnestly.

"It means the Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts," Hermione spoke calmly.

"Now, if the prefects will lead the first years up to their dorms," Dumbledore finished, and Harry and Ginny both got up and walked over to the first years. They looked at the two of them with obvious excitement, fear, and bewilderment.

"You're 'Arry and Ginny Potter, aren't you?" one of the girls said.

"We are," Ginny nodded, and the kids visibly shrank back, "But we're also going to help you guys get to the Gryffindor Common Room. So let's go."

They led the first years, along with the mild help of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindor prefects up to the Gryffindor Tower. The whole time, the first years silently watched in awe as the people in the paintings and portraits moved about, arguing and chatting to one another. But, that wasn't the main attraction, as the first years were amazed at the moving staircases. It was nice to know that the first years weren't cowering a now, but only because they weren't even focusing on the bonded pair. In fact, only the girl who had asked them if they were the Potters or not was staring at them; the first year had an unruly shade of blonde hair and grey eyes, although, Ginny knew she wasn't a Lovegood. Luna and Mary were the only Lovegoods in Britain, since the rest of them were in France. She silently wondered how they were all doing, as they were Luna's family, how many of them were there? That was a boggling question, since Luna didn't ever talk about her family. And they didn't know much about Moonstone and Quinn Lovegood, besides that they were bonded and probably as old as Sarah and James were, but that was even a mystery. There was just nothing about them besides that book, nothing in the Hogwarts or Black library. Well, the Black library had consisted of mostly dark subjects anyways, that was until Sirius and Mary practically burned all of them and replaced those books with new ones that were rare or informational for themselves or Harry and Ginny herself.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia," Harry said, and the Fat Lady's portrait swung aside to reveal the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. The first years and other prefects walked in after them as he added, "Those staircases lead up to the boys' dormitories, and those lead up to the girls'," and then he gave directions on where the first year dorm rooms were at, and the first years walked up the stairs tiredly, ignoring the older students watchful eyes.

"So Potters, decided to brainwash the first years?" Seamus roughly spoke, and both of them turned around, shocked.

"We didn't brainwash them!" Harry snarled.

"Sure you didn't, my mum didn't want me to come back to school this year. You know why? 'Cause of you two. The Daily Prophet's been saying bad things 'bout you two and Dumbledore, and my mum believes it," Seamus replied, and many of the students still in the Common Room were listening to the conversation.

"Well, you're mum is being a dolt, Seamus, because the Prophet's turned to rubbish," Ginny replied.

"Don't you insult me mum," the fifth year snarled.

"We'll insult anybody who calls us liars," Harry replied, before turning towards a particular portrait, "Does anybody have anything else to say?"

Nobody said anything more, so Ginny followed him until they were staring at Sarah's portrait. The black haired and blue-eyed late witch looked at them, smiling, as she asked, "Password?"

Ginny smiled back as she answered, "_Ruby Minuit_."

The portrait swung open, revealing their room and trunks that both of them had missed. It was familiar to them, grand in its own way but still elegant to them. Albeit slightly smaller than their old dorms, it was still just right for Harry and Ginny, and it didn't have the feeling of a dorm. Rather, it had the feeling of a home away from home, not the feeling of being at school. Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and they walked in, the portrait swinging behind them, until they were cut off from the Gryffindor Common Room. They settled on the bed, and both of them took off their prefect badges before just lying down, Ginny in Harry's arms. Neither of them said anything, as there was nothing to say. And if there had been they wouldn't have brought it up anyways, verbally or mentally. Instead, they enjoyed each other's company, sharing relaxed emotions. It was something they had done over the summer, trying to relax after a havoc-stricken night, or a stressed day at Black Manor. Originally, Harry and Ginny hadn't done it as much, preferring to snog instead. But, the stressed nights had caused them to resort to this, and both of them were expecting more stressed nights like this one had been.

A new thought came into Ginny's mind, although it was one she always kept to herself. She would watch her own siblings die, except George, and watch their children and grandchildren die, and her own too. And yet, they would always stay seventeen, forever. They would always look like they should be in school, not a bonded couple who had lived for decades, centuries, millennium, even. They would have George and Luna, Mary and Sirius, yes, but it would always be them living their lives in a young eternity.

"It's a scary thought," Ginny muttered, breaking the silence.

"What is?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"Never getting old, possibly never dying. Outliving my siblings, our children, grandchildren, our friends' descendants," she sniffled, tears for the second time that day beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"We'll figure it all out one day," Harry replied, and she felt his head turn to look out the large window that took up the space of the farthest wall from the portrait hole, "I imagine that after Voldemort is defeated, and we're somehow miraculously alive, we'll travel the world. Visit Luna's family, since we'll take her and George with us, and Sirius and Mary since Ron and Hermione will be busy with their lives and whoever they marry. And then we'll go to the rest of Europe, and possibly the States if our need for adventure isn't over quite yet. Then we'll return to our lives, maybe find that mansion in the one dream we saw, and live in it. George, Luna, Sirius, and Mary would probably join us there eventually, and if anybody else in our family is bonded, so will they. And then, well, I guess we'll probably live in the paradise there."

"I would like that," she smiled.

"But we don't need to worry about that now. Right now, we'll need to just focus on all of the predicaments we're in."

There was a beautiful secret about the predicaments and problems they had suffered. Both of them relied on one another, Ginny knew that, as it gave herself and Harry the feeling that they weren't alone. Because after so many months, two years for herself, of dealing with Tom Riddle, and the bloody nightmares afterwards. And Harry – well, he had had a terrible past, and she was his comforter, like he was her rock; the rock that kept her still sane. Their bond wasn't the one to stabilize just because of love; it was also because that they had meant much more to each other than their friends, or just a simple husband and wife. They were, in a sense, one entity, not like a bond, but the two forms of a conscious. Both of them had one thing the other didn't. For Ginny, Harry had the comforting and cures to the frightening aftermath of those nightmares that she had. For Harry, Ginny had the soothing and love that he had been afraid he wouldn't ever receive from anybody else except Petunia.

"I just wish that we could live as a happy bonded couple sometimes," she sighed.

"Me too, but that would take the fun out of things, wouldn't it? And who said being bonded was normal?"

At this, Ginny laughed, and Harry laughed too. The irony of their situation was sometimes hilarious to them, to tell the truth. Unnatural, even for the magical and wizarding world, but not unnatural for them; the Boy Who Lived and the Transfiguration Prodigy, bonded, something that the wizarding newspapers had been excited to hear. It had made the headlines of them all over the wizarding parts of countries, and many people like Seamus and Dean at first had not believed it. But then, the teachers started calling them 'Mr. and Mrs. Potter', which was the truth. They were married under the wizarding age of consent, which was fifteen, unlike muggle Britain. And MoM laws said only a bonded couple could be married under the age of consent, which really made the news fact. The gossip girls at Hogwarts had been astounded for weeks on end; including Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, and Edith Newton were all considered in that group. It was something funny, to see them like that, although it was never in their complete focus after that Christmas.

Speaking of which, their first 'wedding' anniversary was on Christmas Day, which was another thing that had surprised her to think about. In just a few months, it would be a full year since they had stabilized the bond. Christmas was just a little under five months away. Time had gone by fast for her, as she hadn't really focused on anything in particular during that time, except for maybe the outbreak and the two Dursleys' deaths, and not to mention the Third and Second Tasks. Instinctively, she reached up her hand and brushed the reminder of the Second Task, the reminder that had had her shaken for two months, the lightning-bolt shaped scar that had been before only found on Harry's forehead. But now, it was also on hers. At that moment, both of their scars prickled. It wasn't an unusual thing now, but it was still a weird sensation to feel after never having it before. Ginny sighed; everything in her life could be so hectic sometimes, no, their lives.

It now seemed like yet another funny thought, that just one year ago, she still had that childlike crush on Harry. Now, it was much more different than that. She loved Harry, and he loved her back. If somebody had told her when she was thirteen, before they had started dating beforehand, that she would've been bonded to him, she would have said they were lying. But indeed, they weren't dreaming, and this was all real.

"C'mon, we need to get ready for bed," Harry whispered, and she started to prepare for bed.

In truth, although having friends encouraged him to be louder, Harry was always more quiet than what was normal. He didn't really yell or shout; it was more that he preferred to be quiet. She didn't mind, though. At least he talked more, was what she knew most people thought.

When she was done, he got ready to go to bed, while Ginny just lay on the bed, lost in her thoughts. There were a lot of things to ponder now, but she was tired already, even though it wasn't that late into the night. Yawning, Harry came out of the washroom and flopped onto the bed, making it bounce slightly. The two of them lay there for a few minutes, before she curled up into his embrace and whispered, "Goodnight Harry."

He turned off the lights and replied, _Goodnight Ginny_.

And the two of them fell asleep.

XXX

_They were under the huge tree beside the lake, like always in their dreams. In the background, there was no sound. Ginny brushed her hair out of her face, a smile creeping up onto her face. "My, oh my, we're back!" she exclaimed._

"_It seems that we are," Harry agreed as he got up and helped her onto her feet._

"_I've missed this place."_

"_I have too."_

_They made their way around the Lake until they were almost to the entrance to Hogwarts Castle. Except for their talking, there was no sound in this dream world, since nobody else could be in it. It was an eerie quietness, but Harry and Ginny didn't care. They had been here too many times by now, but it was such a relaxing dream to come to at the end of a very long day. There wasn't a distant echo of a babbling brook, or thestrals whinnying. There was just dead silence until one of them decided to speak again._

_They walked inside the grand Castle, whereas it lacked the chatter of any paintings or students. Nobody roamed the hallways except them, walking about, glad that in this castle they never did have to worry about being caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris. And even though it was dark inside the Castle, they could see quite easily, an advantage they had. "You know," Harry began, "It's probably going to be a tough school year."_

"_I already knew that," she replied._

"_I know, but Umbridge is going to give us a hellish time. We're saying the exact thing that the Ministry of Magic doesn't want the public to know. We're going to have to learn to fight her, but it's going to be a bad idea to fight verbally against her, no matter how much you wish to do so, Ginny."_

"_And you're putting all the blame on me for wanting to do that? You're bad at doing that, Potter, and you know it!" she laughed._

"_I know that, I just choose to put the blame on you," he smirked in reply._

"_Why you - Prat!" she giggled, before playfully smacking him on the shoulder._

"_Not my fault."_

"_Yes it is!"_

"_And how so," he asked, and she harrumphed in reply, "See, it's not my fault."_

_They came to a stop at the Astronomy Tower, and looked up at the full view of the sky and the empty grounds. It was this place that they often went to anyways, as it was nice to look at, even if it was a dream and entirely inside their minds. "You know," Ginny spoke aloud, since they couldn't communicate telepathically inside a dream, "There's something strange about all of this. Do you think . . . .? That Fudge and other people in the Ministry are under the Imperius Curse? I mean, it would make sense, for somebody to allow this, no matter the bribe."_

"_It's probably a likely chance," Harry agreed with her, "But it would also cause a lot of problems for us in the future. Having to deal with people under the Imperius and Death Eaters like Draco's father, well combined, it won't be fun, to put it bluntly. And then we have to deal with the bad part of the Slytherins, since I really don't want to believe that Draco is the only exception there. Not to mention the fact that with Narcissa's information about Voldemort's dark circle, I'm assuming that not all of them are bad. Zabini's mom isn't in the circle and neither are Daphne and Astoria Greengrass' parents."_

"_It does seem likely they aren't like their house-mates," Ginny nodded after a few more minutes of silence, "And we haven't seen them being mean towards anybody. The three of them are actually quite nice. Astoria was always good-natured towards everybody else when we used to be in classes with each other."_

_He nodded, and the finally settled on leaning against the small half wall that made sure students didn't fall to their deaths, just gazing up at the fake sky. But suddenly, both of them felt a pull like they had just started to wake up. It couldn't be morning already, could it? No, they would've known, since the sky also changed somehow as the outside world's sky changed. What was going on? Ginny felt the squeeze of going through a side-along apparation, and before she knew it, she was lying down on a cold stone floor._

_Getting up, Ginny realized where she was at, the Ministry of Magic! But how did she get here? Shaking her head, she saw Harry looking at a door. Not just any door, but what she feared to believe was the entrance to the Department of Ministries, although she had only seen it through his memory of passing it, on the way to Sirius' trial. "Harry? What's going on?" she asked timidly, while a voice that she hadn't heard in such a long time made its way into this sudden interruption._

"_The prophecy. . . . Kill . . . ." Tom Riddle's voice hissed, in what she expected to be Parseltongue. But, the only problem with that was that she could understand him!_

_She shivered albeit rather unwillingly, even though nothing about the room was cold. This wasn't right. . . . As she looked at Harry, he seemed to be in some sort of trance, his eyes locked with the door. Ginny tried to speak, but no words were able to come out of her mouth, as her throat had been flooded with the bitter drink of ice cold fear. She managed to get onto her knees, luckily, but this was a nightmare unlike any other she had ever had. It was entirely dark, no sense of a classic nightmare, no, it seemed very real. And unlike her nightmares, she couldn't say anything or make one small sound. Something was wrong._

_She drew in a quick intake of breath, only to find it wasn't enough to fill her lungs, as the ice cold feeling had spread down to her chest. Wrapping her arms around herself, she rocked ever so slightly, trying to bring heat back. But the heat never came at all. Instead, it just stayed there, the cold, as if it was taunting her. "Make it stop," she managed to say, but Harry still stood there._

_Tom was tricking them, she knew that. He was tricking her to think that Harry wouldn't come to her, and he was tricking Harry to think that the DoM was somehow important. But it wasn't, it couldn't be. Cold and weak, although they were not exactly feelings, were all she felt, and emptiness. The same feelings she had had in her first year. "Harry. . . ." she cried, and he turned to look at her, his eyes widening with shock._

"_Kill . . . . The prophecy. . . . Kill . . . ." Riddle's voice chanted over and over again._

"_Ginny!" Harry exclaimed, and he ran over to her, before looking at her and listening to the voice. He finally decided, "We have to get you out of here."_

_Ginny nodded, although she couldn't help but wonder how. She couldn't walk at all, at the moment. Much less run or do anything like that. Finally realizing that, Harry was somehow able to scoop her up, and normally she would've complained as he walked towards the elevators, but she decided not to. That wouldn't get them anywhere at the moment anyways. He pressed a button, and the elevator doors opened, before he walked inside._

_And with a pull, the two of them woke up._

XXX

Ginny Molly Potter was never the one to be slow at waking up. Harry often told her so, and she always found it funny when he did, since he woke up slowly, although he wasn't as bad as Ron. But it was a disadvantage to waking up like that, as when like a light switch, she was awake, the after effects of that nightmare had caused her to wake up breathless. Harry, surprisingly, woke up right after her, both of their temperatures ice cold, although they quickly started regaining heat after a few minutes of stunned silence.

Sunlight streamed into their room, but it didn't help for the sudden darkness that overcame the two. Ginny panted, not wanting to believe that that nightmare had actually happened. It couldn't have happened. He couldn't ever torture her like that again, he couldn't! It was impossible. Tears started to stream from her eyes, and Harry turned to look at her, before pulling her into a tight hug. "It's okay Ginny," he whispered while she just sobbed for several minutes, before he said, "C'mon we need to get ready for breakfast."

Nodding, Ginny left his embrace, turned and went into the washroom, immediately turning on the faucet until the water was almost freezing. She cupped her hands before making them gather some water, and splashed the liquid onto her face and neck, and repeated it two more times. This then caused her hair to look almost dripping, but she didn't care. Ginny then continued to get ready, putting on her school robes and walking back into their bedroom, to grab and put on her prefect badge. Harry then went into the washroom, and she just plopped onto the bed, not saying anything. Although it had also hit Harry hard, this hurt her harder. Sure, it might have just been a classic nightmare altogether, but those were never the easiest. And if it wasn't, what did Tom Marvolo Riddle want with them? They weren't looking for this, and yet he had decided that wrecking havoc I their lives would be better than doing whatever he had been doing for the past few months. It was a cruel form of punishment to do this to them.

Harry came back out, and he looked at her depressed state. "It's okay Ginny. It's okay. . . . To be afraid," he said.

She smiled weakly, before taking his offered hand and got to her feet. She had never liked being afraid, but if there was a person who could comfort her after being afraid, it was Harry. He helped her get out of the portrait hole, and as he did so he checked the time on his watch. It was only seven thirty in the morning, but it was still quite later than what they usual woke up at.

They made their way through the corridors, watching as Ravenclaws and other students grumpily got up and headed down to breakfast, to start their day. And for once, Harry and Ginny weren't noticed among these people, which was a wash of relief. It was nice to not be noticed once in a while, although some people would say the opposite, it was true for the two of them. However, the walk down to the Great Hall wasn't as fast as it was in the early hours of the morning, so Harry decided to have a silent conversation in their minds, which brought a nice distraction for Ginny.

_Do you think that our friends will complete their transformations into animagi this year?_

_I honestly don't know. Could they do it so early? I'm a bad example, so don't point me out as an example. But George and Luna have already completed theirs, so that part doesn't really matter. But Hermione, Fred, and Ron; that part is a mystery._

_You know, sometimes I really wish we were all born animagi, although I wouldn't want to give them these instincts with it, _Harry admitted.

_I can see your reasoning with that. They wouldn't have the instincts, yes, but it would have been helpful anyways. Too bad that couldn't have happened, but it wouldn't have mattered in one way, because I would still be bonded to you._

A sudden grin flashed onto Harry's face, although only they knew why that had happened. Ginny felt better now, or was beginning to feel better anyways. At one point during their walk down to the Great Hall, Ginny somehow and once again found Harry's hand. It wasn't something she had done on purpose; it was just a natural thing. And it felt good, for once, to have been soul-bonded. Of course, it was always a good thing for them, but this time it truly felt like she wasn't alone. And really, she wasn't.

When they had made their way down to the Great Hall finally, the two of them settled down right next to their friends. "Where have you two been?" Hermione immediately asked in a hushed tone, while Ron was stuffing his face.

"Can't we sleep in occasionally?" Harry responded while Ginny just loaded their plates.

Hermione nodded while the two of them began eating, although Ginny noted about what her friends were doing. Fred, well, he was picking at his food, while George and Luna sat side by side. _I'm guessing that another problem arose within their trio?_

_Probably that Lee's no longer writing to them. He used to a lot, but all of the sudden a month ago he said that by September he wouldn't be writing to them anymore. I think it's because he just had to move on with his life, although there's nothing we can do about it._

Harry gave a slight nod, before they received their time tables. "We're with Umbridge _first_?" Ron groaned as soon as he saw the fifth year schedules.

Ginny sighed as she looked at their schedule, which proved that he wasn't lying; they indeed had Umbridge first thing in the morning. That was just wonderful, although the lady was going to be in for a surprise, to put it bluntly.

_Can we get through the Ministry's teachings?_

_I think we can._

So, there was Harry and Ginny, eating breakfast like it was any other day. However, they weren't aware of the disapproving glare from Umbridge that they were getting, nor would they have cared. It wasn't their fault that she had chosen to follow the MoM's brainwashing, but when the time arose, it was up to them to undo it, that part was for sure.

But there were many things that Ginny had learned from that one terrifying nightmare, and the MoM. For one, their problems were just beginning, and there was nothing they could do about that. All they could do now was prepare, and that's what the pack heeded to do most at the moment. Because, Ginny had a feeling that Umbridge wasn't going to teach any actual Defense against the Dark Arts at all, at least nothing true to the name. The Ministry wouldn't want to give the students a feeling of insecurity, except for maybe the pack themselves. Well, if that's what they were trying to do, they would just have to prove them wrong.

And then there was another thing that she had learned.

That it was okay to be afraid.

**A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. I'm back to my normal writing schedule, thankfully, which means I can write more often now. Although, in July I'm not going to be as free to work on things. We have the Fourth of July in two different places to go to, and then we have a camping trip, and some other things that I can't remember at the moment. But other than that, I'll be allowed to work on this freely, which is a lot of time than I thought July would actually have. And I know Ginny seemed kind of helpless at the end of this chapter, and I did not mean that. But after the CoS, I'm pretty sure that she would've probably had nightmares for at least a few months after that and a lasting affect when it came to certain things. And I think that this was one of those times that she felt vulnerable, which for her character, doesn't occur often at all. I don't like to make my characters vulnerable usually, but I honestly like how Harry's there to comfort her after their 'nightmare'.**

**Review by Lilykees: I can NOT wait to see what you have the pack do to Umbitch. (Sorry read that in another story and it just seems the perfect name for her.) I'm hoping for a lot of pranks and maybe truth potion. But we'll see. I love this story.**

**Response: Oh I already have what they'll do planned, and I'm going to enjoy writing that part. We'll see on the pranks and the truth potion. Thank you for the review!**

**Review by Darrell-deam: Ugh, Umbridge! I had almost forgotten about her. I hope you're going to eliminate her very, very quickly! Other than that cow I'm still enjoying this story, keep it up.**

**Response: I couldn't forget about Umbridge, now, could I? Although she's the character I hate the most, I had to include her. We'll have to see on my plans for her, though. Thank you for the review!**


	6. Chapter 5: Umbridge

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

The four fifth year students went back up to the Gryffindor Tower to get their things, before continuing on down to the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom. Harry wasn't very happy about the idea of being taught by the toad, but he didn't make further comment on their new Professor. Instead, Ron did that for him, while he and Ginny remained silent. "Honestly Ronald," Hermione scolded, "Can't you at least wait until you see what she does for yourself?"

"But she's bound to be awful!" Ron countered, before adding, "Besides, haven't you three already read our DADA textbook?"

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione nodded in reply, and finally stopped at the entrance to their class. "Well," Ginny shook her head, "Let's get this over with." And with that, the four of them walked into the classroom.

Umbridge sat there at the Professor's desk, a smile on her face. She still wore similar pink robes to the ones she had worn yesterday, but this time she had a black velvet bow instead of a pink. Thus Harry had the impression that the bow was a fly, and she was the toad that would throw out its tongue to catch the fly. Ginny and Harry were able to contain their laughter and smiles while they walked over to a two-seater desk and sat down, Ron and Hermione taking the desk right next to theirs. Umbridge's smile lessened when she saw this, although the foul lady made no comment. Instead, she looked at the other students, and when she found that they were all seated, she said, "Good morning, Class."

Nobody made a single sound. All of them just looked at her with increased boredom, and she frowned. "No, this won't do. I expect you all to say 'Good morning, Professor Umbridge' back. So let's try that again. Good morning, Class."

"Good Morning Professor Umbridge," the whole class replied, all of their voices monotonous.

"Excellent! Now, wands away and textbooks out, please," she smiled.

Confused, Harry and Ginny obeyed her orders, and put their wands away. They took out their textbooks, and saw Hermione raising her hand. Umbridge pretended not to see her, but after everybody had their textbooks out, the toad's smile turned into a frown and she looked over at their friend, and asked, "Yes?"

"Why don't we need our wands?" Hermione demanded.

"And your name is?" Umbridge said.

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss Granger, I don't see why you would ever need wands in my class! You are going to be learning in a risk-free way, one that ensures that all of you will be safe. Now then, I ask for you to all turn to the assigned pages on the board," Umbridge ordered.

Harry and Ginny once again opened up their books, and decided that it was just best not to argue. They started to reread the pages, when Harry noticed that Hermione was not. Instead, she was resting her crossed arms on the closed book, and scowling at the oblivious Umbridge. Ginny looked up, and she whispered, "What are you doing, Hermione?"

Their bushy-haired friend shook her head, and kept on looking at the Professor. At one point, Umbridge turned her head and scowled right back at Hermione, before asking, "Why aren't you reading the book?"

"I've already read it," Hermione replied stiffly.

"Then you can continue on to read the next few pages."

"I've already read the whole book."

"And did you understand the contents?"

By then, everybody in the classroom was looking at the battle going on between the two of them. "I understood the contents," Hermione said, then added, "But why would we need to learn magical theory when we can't practice magic? We do need protection, don't we?"

"And what would you need to be protected from?"

"Oh I don't know," Ron growled, "How about boggarts or Dementors?"

"How about Voldemort," Ginny muttered, although only Harry heard her.

"Students will raise their hands if they wish to speak in my class," Umbridge snapped.

Ron raised his hand, and Umbridge asked, "Yes?"

"What about boggarts or Dementors? What about the Azkaban escapees?" Ron almost roared.

"Your name," was what the woman said.

"Ron Weasley."

"Well, Mr. Weasley, you are ensured protection here. Nobody will harm you."

At that point, Ginny raised her hand, and Umbridge had no other choice but to answer her. "Yes?"

"Cedric Diggory wasn't safe here, and he was two years older than us," Ginny almost literally snarled.

That did it. Umbridge froze, and the whole class fell into an eerie silence. The Gryffindors looked at the four of them, in shock, and part of the Slytherins looked impressed, while the rest of them looked bored. But it was true. Cedric wasn't safe. He never was, since he was in the Triwizard Tournament, but all of that wouldn't have happened if Voldemort hadn't returned. "Your name," Umbridge asked; her eyes wide with shock, and what looked like to be fear.

"Ginny Potter," Ginny replied while Harry was trying hard not to laugh again.

"Well, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Diggory's death was a freak accident."

A freak accident! Harry almost felt like clawing her to death. Cedric's death was not a freak accident at all! And the bitch knew it too! A smirk twisted onto Umbridge's lips, and he knew she was thinking that they had given up. However, that smirk quickly diminished when Ron raised his hand. Harry dreaded what his friend and brother in-law was going to say, because he had a pretty good idea of what it was. "Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

"If Cedric's death was a freak accident, was Sirius Black's imprisonment without trial on purpose?"

"Of course not, it was a terrible accident! And that's enough! I will have order! Please go back to reading the assigned pages!" Umbridge thundered.

Harry and Ginny turned back to the textbooks, albeit unwillingly, they continued to read. Hermione scowled but then started reading, since none of them wanted to cause even more havoc, yet. No, that was George, Fred, and Luna's job, not theirs. They would just have to pass on the information for Luna to use tomorrow.

The rest of their class flew by with an uncomfortable ease, and so did History of Magic. His friends made no more comments or asked questions, although Ginny was in a seething rage, more so than him. They were both angry that Umbridge could push Cedric's death aside like that! And to call it a freak accident in front of the very two people that witnessed it, did the woman have no shame at all? Well, he was betting she didn't. And more than likely, she wasn't brainwashed like some of her coworkers, or under the Imperius. No, Umbridge lived up to being a foul person indeed.

So, the four of them made their way down to the Great Hall, this time all of them complaining about Umbridge. "She only teaches magical theory? What rubbish!" Hermione groaned, before adding, "It's called Defense against the Dark Arts for a reason, and she's not letting the class live up to its expectations."

"Tell me about it," Harry muttered, "Is it so hard for her to not insult Cedric and Sirius all at once?"

"Guess it is," Ron replied.

They then made it into the Great Hall, and made their way to their spots. George, Fred, and Luna were all sitting there, eating lunch. As soon as they sat down, George asked, "Well, how was the toad's class?"

"Awful," Harry explained, "She has no sympathy for Sirius or for Cedric's death, which she stated was an 'accident'. Pure rubbish; the textbooks are pure magical theory and nothing else, not to mention the fact that she ordered us to put our wands _away_. Umbridge dismissed every idea or fact that we brought up against her, and completely abolished the use of our wands or at least some practical defense. Honestly, you would have to see it for yourself to believe it."

"Hmm. . . . Sounds like a bloody high up Ministry worker. Completely out of their minds and wits," Fred observed, "Most of the MoM officials bribe their way into getting what they want. How do you think Malfoy got his job? He bribed Fudge of course, that's how. Dad says he even makes donations 'out of the kindness of his heart'. That's the biggest load of rubbish that I ever heard."

"Our homework is worse," Ginny sighed, "We have to write an essay about the first few pages, and she's expecting it to be sixteen inches long. We can write it, sure, but how can you write about something that belongs in the waste basket?"

Just then, Harry's scar prickled. He was used to it, yes, but it was just at a completely unfamiliar moment, causing him to mentally wince. _Ouch! Harry, how did you deal with this for the past five years?_

_You'll get used to it._

Ginny mentally shuddered but did not reply. In truth, his scar hurt quite a lot more now, with Voldemort back in the world, and he didn't like it. If his scar was like this all the time, it was equivalent to a dull headache. Well, for him anyways. For Ginny, the headache was like a migraine. Although her scar never did hurt exactly, it prickled in a smaller amount when Harry's did, and they shared each other's pain along with emotions, so it didn't really help.

"She's really that bad?" Luna groaned.

"Yep, possibly even worse, we really don't know," Harry replied.

"I'm in for it," Luna groaned again, but didn't say anything more.

"What's our next class?" Ron asked, finally making comment since he actually got his lunch.

"Transfiguration," Ginny answered, "At least we have that class today."

That's what they thought, until they went to Transfiguration. McGonagall was looking at all of them with an expression on her face that could only be described as grim and strict. Harry and Ginny sat down again, right next to each other, and pulled out both their textbooks and wands. However, McGonagall said, "Welcome to your fifth year in Transfiguration. For some of you, this will be your last year in my class. For others, you will continue on to NEWTS, since I only accept students with an 'O' on their OWLS. Please regard your Transfigurations carefully."

And with that, the class then began to transfigure their items. It wasn't that hard, although Harry and Ginny both were probably better off in a sixth year class, they still paid attention to the jewelry boxes that they were trying to transfigure into cats. Although, it wasn't that hard for either of them, and they got the jewelry boxes transfigured in the middle of class. Few students even questioned it anymore, as at first it had been hard for the whole class to watch as two students were quickly advancing.

By the end of class, however, they were two transfigures ahead of their own class. McGonagall gave out homework, which was to write an essay and practice if you hadn't successfully transfigured the jewelry boxes, and then she dismissed them.

XXX

Draco shook his head as he walked with Daphne and Blaise back to the Slytherin Common Room. In truth, he had never suspected that they would ever be friends, since the two of them had different ideas about You-Know-Who that most Slytherins did not, which included him at the time. He hadn't talked to Potter much either, which was a plus, although it could be quite lonely without having Pansy or his former cronies anymore. "You know," Daphne sighed, lifting up her free hand to take her dark brown ringlets out of her face, "Umbridge really wasn't that spectacular. You would think that the Ministry would be giving our class some 'special attention' as we had the rest of the Slytherins in there, but she didn't."

"I don't think they want to be giving us any chance to use our wands against them," Draco muttered, "Wouldn't it be the perfect way to make sure _they _can't tell the truth?"

"It's not our fault that there's a war going on. But at least we know You-Know-Who's going down," Daphne replied, her blue eyes set with a taste of revenge.

"So you think the Dark Lord's going down, eh? Pure rubbish, if I've ever heard of it," Theodore Nott laughed, and Draco quickly realized that they had already gotten into the Slytherin Common Room.

"Why do you care, Nott? Is it just because you want to make sure you won't die, you little shite!" Blaise retorted, and Nott quickly backed up.

"Not my fault that you three are going to regret never joining us, not to mention those fourth and third years too. Oh yeah, and by the way, my father and Pansy's father have decided that we're _betrothed. _Too bad Malfoy, or should I call you Black; anyways, I'm going to treat her better than you blood traitor ever did. But then again, you're looking at that Ravenclaw, aren't you?" Nott grinned.

Draco's cheeks reddened in response. In truth, Daphne knew about it, although she was still trying to get them to date. Well, that was Daphne for you. She was never overly excited, although she did have her eyes on another person, who was clearly oblivious about her. Draco never understood that anyways when she talked about it and Blaise was more of a quiet person, not to mention a bookworm. But the Slytherin had all of the other house's good traits, except for theirs, which Draco didn't really understand, but Blaise was also overly ambitious and cunning when he wanted to be.

"Don't you dare talk about my sister like that, you bastard," Daphne screeched, before she fired a Bat-Bogey Hex at the teenager, causing Nott to be surrounded by mucus bats.

"Nice," was all Blaise said in reply, before they got their things for their next class with the Ravenclaws, and ran out the door.

Somehow, a seventh year girl managed to tackle Blaise in the process of trying to leave the dungeons, a seventh year boy following after her. Well, they looked seventeen anyways, although they weren't wearing Hogwarts robes. "Would you get off me, will you?" Blaise asked after a few minutes, and the girl blushed before getting up.

Draco's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. The two seventh years really didn't go to Hogwarts! In fact, they almost looked like Loony Loopy Lovegood, but that couldn't be possible! "Sorry Mr. Zabini, we were just trying to do a little bit of exploring, that's all," the girl laughed, before she turned on Malfoy, "Hey, aren't you the little sprite that went to Black Manor? Yes, now that I think about it, you are."

"How do you know me?" Draco growled in response.

The girl laughed. "Well, Mr. Black, one must know all they can know before doing anything else, wouldn't you agree? Well, we really must be going, now that I think about it. Any more questions out o' you three?"

She was utterly absurd, to put it simply. Talkative, seemingly ancient, and completely carefree; how on earth did she get into Hogwarts? Looking at them, she shrugged as if in reply to what he had thought, and said, "Well, that must be all, right Quinn? Well, goodbye, because you won't be seeing us again!" And with two resounding 'pops', the two seventeen year olds disappeared.

Blaise finally got to his feet, his eyebrows raised, and Daphne's eyes widened. "Who the heck were they?" she asked, alarmed.

"Relatives of Luna Lovegood and Rosemary Black, I'm betting," was what Draco answered in response.

XXX

Harry watched with interest as Ginny folded and taped the last of the wrapping paper onto the box, and a smile came to her face. In truth, it was very late at night, almost morning, but neither of them cared. "Perfect!" she grinned, before looking up at him, "Now we just have to wait until the nineteenth! Do you think she'll like it?"

Harry shrugged, only to have himself swatted on the head. He laughed in reply to this, but said, "Of course she will, you know Hermione! Or do you think that she won't?"

"I'm just worried," Ginny finally admitted, "With what we saw of Umbridge today, I don't think we'll get along with her very well at all. That bloody dream is also on my mind, although it's not that important. But still, what are we going to do about all of this? If she's not going to teach us DADA, who the heck will," she finished.

Harry rolled his eyes, but a smile slowly came to his face. "We'll figure it out, Gin. Right now, though, I think somebody is tired!"

"I am not tired!"

_Of course you aren't._

_ And why did you suddenly decide to use telepathy?_

_ Because I can, Gin._

A small laugh finally escaped from her lips after being so upset, although she still had some worrying radiating from her, that didn't matter. She was happy, at least, as Harry had finally gotten her to calm down. And that was what counted most, to be able to make her laugh. "So now we're love-sick, are we?" she asked, the humor in voice reaching a new level.

"If I can be, then yes," he replied.

"Ha, ha, very funny Harry," she said, before she sat on the bed and put the gift aside.

They had spent a lot of time trying to find that gift, and it hadn't been remotely easy. Hours of searching through the improved Black library and taking out more than just a few galleons had finally paid off, not to mention the fact that they couldn't even let Hermione know about it. Because if she did, more than likely she would like the gift, but also be in a very shocked state, and that wouldn't be their fault; well, mostly. Harry and Ginny had gotten the gift, after all, although it wasn't anything that would compare to what her parents or Molly and Arthur would send, as Ginny's parents thought of Hermione as family, since the soon-to-be sixteen year old was still discovering the wizarding world.

The next birthday that was in the pack was on December 22nd, as Luna would be celebrating her fifteenth birthday. They were already planning on what to get her, even though that wasn't going to be for a short while. But still, the second youngest in there group was going to be fifteen! Ginny didn't like being called the youngest, which she ironically was in their group, although it wasn't their fault that she was. However, the pack didn't really mind age, unless there was a birthday. Then, they were all obsessed with trying to figure out the presents, cake, spot; the list just went on and on. And the Gryffindor Common Room was the most likely to hold it, since so many people in the Gryffindor House knew her somehow.

"I wonder what they got her," Ginny wondered aloud, both of them looking up at the ceiling.

"More than likely everybody at least got her one book, if not four or more," he predicted, causing her to giggle.

"Don't be a prat! Although 'Mione likes books, they wouldn't get her that _many_."

_I know they won't, I'm only joking._

_ You sure could fool me._

_ Yeah right, it wouldn't work since you can feel my emotions._

_ True._

The silence that followed wasn't really an uncomfortable one, since they were just enjoying the ecstasy of their room. It was no longer just a dorm to either of them; it was their third bedroom, the first two being the one at Black Manor and Ginny's at the Burrow. Well, Hogwarts had been Harry's home for the first three years of his education, until they had successfully brought Pettigrew back with them to Dumbledore and Fudge. The thought was humorous when they remembered Fudge's facial expression, priceless, even. Sirius black, framed for murdering those muggles and Peter Pettigrew, yet the blasted rat was somehow still alive! The Daily Prophet and Rita Skeeter had a field day when that was confirmed that Sirius was innocent, and that Pettigrew was still alive after twelve years, which Harry's godfather had spent every single one in Azkaban. Too many years to be innocent yet in prison, was their original thoughts. Now that he thought about it, Harry realized he remembered in great detail about what had happened that one day.

It had been at Buckbeak's supposed execution, until Harry had given them Hermione's letter confirming of a Hippogriff's nature and how Draco himself was to blame for insulting him. They were just walking back towards Hogwarts when Pettigrew had bitten Ron's finger and started running towards the dreaded Womping Willow. Ginny, who was chasing after Ron, was then pounced on by Sirius, who gave her an odd look of pure humor, before taking Ron by the leg going on after the rat. Harry had helped Ginny to her feet, before she too transformed and ran after the three of them. Hermione, who wouldn't have stood a chance against the tree, was then pulled onto Harry's back as he too transformed, having casted the charm just in time, which he now used everyday just in case. The two of them were able to get past the swinging branches before continuing on their not-so-merry way.

When they had finally arrived at the Shrieking Shack, Ginny had been crying because she had seen Sirius, who they had originally thought was the cause of James and Lily's deaths. And after quite a bit of talking, and Ginny being accidentally pushed onto the floor, Harry had decided with Sirius and Remus to bring Pettigrew to Dumbledore. Snape arrived, handing Remus his Wolfsbane Potion before being knocked unconscious just as Ginny passed out. Sirius helped carry Ginny, and helped support Ron until Lupin then transformed into his werewolf form, causing their former DADA Professor to then run away, still with half of his mind left, and for Snape to wake up after being levitated, who had then showed some mercy and safely gotten them all back to the Hogwarts Castle.

By then, havoc at erupted within Dumbledore's Office, supposedly, and they were then all transported to the Hospital Wing, where Harry and Hermione were given Dreamless Sleep Potions, and Ron was going to be cared for until he was able to receive his, which wasn't long. When Ginny had awoken, however, for the brief time she could, she listened to Dumbledore and Sirius' conversation, before she too blacked out.

"You know," Ginny nodded, "That was quite a thrilling time for the parts I remembered anyways. And then there's your view on it, which is just plain boring."

"It is not!"

She snickered in reply, but said, "And where has your carefree and joking attitude gone, hmm? Down the drain, I suppose, is the most likely of places, although that really isn't possible."

"And it's almost time to get ready for school."

"WHAT? I don't even feel tired! We just came up here when Hedwig was sitting on her perch, and we received our gift to Hermione, it couldn't have been that long!"

"But you took the extra time to wrap her present in the muggle fashion."

"You got me there," Ginny sighed in defeat.

"Now then, we really need to be getting ready for school, as we don't want to make the impression that we're always going to wake up late, now do we? Besides, we also got our homework done, which although Ron complains is a lot, if you're us then it doesn't take as long as it should."

"That's just because we're able to last longer without sleep more than he can."

Smiling, Harry got off the bed at the same time Ginny did, and she went and got changed before he did. Harry then casted the usual charm, which was pronounced _toddi__anifeiliaid_ In truth, it didn't take them more than ten minutes before they were able to go and walk down to the Great Hall, where the steaming food and some of the tired fifth and seventh year Ravenclaws were waiting for them. Both of them walked to the empty Gryffindor tables, before they sat down and loaded their plates with food, waiting for another hour before Hermione would arrive, and two hours until Luna and George and Fred would come, not to mention the thirty minutes after when Ron would also make his way down to the Great Hall groggily.

So, Harry and Ginny just enjoyed the company of each other, paying no mind to the fact that Dumbledore and McGonagall were watching them carefully, and Umbridge wasn't even up quite yet. Nor were they paying attention to the hushed discussion that the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress were having, because the two bond-mates were having a silent conversation inside their minds.

_So, what class do we have first today, Harry?_

_ By the looks of it, we have History of Magic, the dreaded class! No, we just may get an 'O' on our OWL in that subject, just maybe._

_ Of course we'll get an OWL on it! But then again, Hermione's probably going to beat us at getting anywhere close to first place on achieving all 'O's on the OWLS. Makes you wonder what the Sorting Hat said to put her in Gryffindor sometimes._

_ Well, she's brave. She took out Draco in my third year._

_ That's true._

Yes, some things Harry and Ginny were quite oblivious to that went on in the first hour that breakfast was actually served. And some of those things were better left to not be paid attention to rather than to actually do so. But, listening to McGonagall and Dumbledore's conversation was not one of them.

**A/N: Finally got the chapter done! YAY! I'm personally pleased with this chapter, since I needed to find a way to get in Draco's situation, having returned to Hogwarts now, and his run-in with Moonstone & Quinn. I really wonder what the oldest bonded pair still alive is up to next. . . .**

**Anyways, thank you for the reviews I've been having and the support. Although I got tired of saying that so much, I really do appreciate it. And Harry and Ginny I thought were much more carefree in this chapter than the last one, since after a lot of tensions one must always calm down and enjoy things.**

**Review by Darrell-Deam: ****I like the way you have Ginny and Harry comforting and reassuring each other, that's something that's needed in relationships but unfortunately is frequently missing. Another great chapter, I enjoyed it.**

**Response: Yeah, although I love the Harry and Ginny SB fics, their relationship can sometimes be underrated. Where Harry has the lack for crying and sad emotions, Ginny makes up for that; although, in every relationship there has to be comforting in order to actually survive tragedies in one or the other's family, or even amongst themselves. And it really is needed in even the most simplest of couples, up to the point where they are married. It proves if they are really meant for each other or not. Thank you for the review!**

**And to put this in here, for those of you that just celebrated the fourth of July last night if you are in the United States like I am, well, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! I'm still going to celebrate on the actual day, although I just thought that some people celebrate a few days earlier and some people don't. If you're not in the US, well, I'm sorry I don't keep track of the other Independent Days or celebrations, but I don't have many people reminding me of them. Please don't take offense to this, it's just I'm not able to keep track of so many celebrations of so many countries.**


	7. Chapter 6: Practice

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, and Luna had successfully gotten back into the Room of Requirement. It had been a week since their first day back to classes, and the time had called for some animagi practicing. Well, George and Luna were doing their homework since they completed their forms, but the others who did not were still trying to. Thankfully, Ron was able to complete the binding spell first try when they had first gotten back into the room, which was a large training room, complete with some bookshelves filled with books along with some other things. Hermione, surprisingly, was on the verge of completing the transformation altogether and she was currently backed away from the group in case she did actually transform.

"Do you think that we should let others also train with us?" Luna asked at one point, putting her homework aside.

"Would it be a crime to not let them practice? I don't want to turn you guys into warriors, but there are other dangers out there, and turning into your animagus form isn't always going to work," Ginny answered, barely containing her shock at the question.

"Well, we could do both, since Umbridge isn't teaching us anything. But, if a war really is coming, and we know it is, our classmates are going to need preparation for it, and that would make sense, since they would all want to fight. They aren't prepared for it, though, and they need to be. Not to mention becoming animagi would help them escape tight situations," Luna countered.

Ginny shook her head, albeit rather forcefully. She and Harry shared the same opinions about this! It would be dangerous to allow everybody to become animagi, much less to let them experience those dangers! It wasn't right, when half of them were not even listening to the truth going on. "No," Harry finally said, "It's dangerous. Think about what you guys might have to go through, right along with us. Not to mention the fact that if we let them become animagi, it would bring a sudden unknown amount of animagi in magical Britain. The International Confederation of Wizards might actually do something about that."

"But it would help all of us! If our classmates became animagi, then it would allow them to have a less chance of dying!"

Crap, she got them there. They weren't going to let people just die at the hands of Voldemort and his followers, much less let them die unprotected. "Drop it, Luna," George muttered, "It's not going to help."

"We'll. . . . Think about it," Ginny sighed, and Luna suddenly grinned.

"See, you can knock some common sense into them!" the dirty blonde laughed.

"That's cheating, though!" Ron argued.

Ginny rolled her eyes at that. It wasn't cheating, more or less; it was showing somebody's weakness. And it was a cruel manner of doing that, but well, that was Luna for you. Ginny then turned to look at how Hermione was doing, and saw that their friend was repeating the spell every few minutes, but always with the feeling that the spell needed. Except, this time, it might actually work, or any other time. "_Sanguinem Animal_," Hermione said, but actually almost roared.

"Do you really have to be that loud 'Mione?" Ron asked, but his eyes widened when he discovered Hermione was no longer there.

"She did it!" Ginny grinned, looking at the snow leopard in the place where Hermione had been.

Hermione looked startled at first, but she then concentrated, and in a matter of seconds she transformed back into her human form. "That was. . . . Unexpected," she giggled, looking around at her friends.

"Yes! Now we have another animagus in the group!" Luna exclaimed before pausing, and adding, "Now we just need you two to transform, then we'll all be set."

"It does take time to do it. Not all of us have the advantage of being incredibly fast learners," Fred laughed.

"I don't care!"

Ginny shook her head, a smile spreading to her face. This was just the normal routine for them; plan, review, do the plan, and then bicker, not to mention repeat. Well, it was the routine when they were planning something, although the normality of the pack's daily goings were quite similar to that.

Upon Luna's first meeting with Umbridge, she had somehow managed to receive three days' worth of detention, although she would reveal what the punishment was. Instead, she had somehow managed to hide that information, although they fought against the whole idea if it was that bad, why didn't she say something about it to Dumbledore or McGonagall. But as Harry and Ginny had said when that topic was brought up, the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress really couldn't do anything about it, with the toad being from the MoM and all. And that usually made the fact all the more worse. To not be able to do anything was not something that either of them took lightly. But to not be able to help their friend, even if they tried or tried to get help, just made the two realize the fact that even if they wanted to, they wouldn't be able to help everybody from Voldemort's grasp. Even the sixth and seventh year Slytherins or some of them anyways, had joined the ranks of Death Eaters, as they were being spies for the Dark Lord. And probably half of the Slytherin fifth years had also joined, if not some of the fourth years as well. Children willing to die for a supposed purity when it was really the prejudice against the newfound technology that muggles had; Ginny closed her eyes for a minute, not wanting to think about the war quite yet. But the thoughts still came to her. Would they let all of those innocent people, magical and muggle alike, die? Would it be fair treatment to let them, for what Harry called, 'Dumbledore's Greater Good'? Would it really let them win the war, or would the war destroy them in the process? But for Dumbledore's plan to happen, as they had figured that out, a million things shouldn't have happened. For one, Harry shouldn't have been a born animagus. Another thing that shouldn't have happened was that they shared one soul, or the fact that she was an animagus. And would Dumbledore have allowed them to be as close as they are now? No, Harry and Ginny didn't hate Dumbledore; in fact, they had come to like his non-manipulative way of thinking. But the facts had to be faced, there were some things that had to be done, and the Greater Good was not one of them.

George and Luna had somehow managed to smuggle in butterbeer before they all left for Hogwarts, and managed to keep it from going sour. Again, their traits were amazing, as they had connected two bags together, one in Luna's dorms that stored the butterbeer and other items, and the other bag was the one she carried with her at all times. "Okay! Let's see here," Luna said as she reached in, before pulling out seven bottles of the wizarding drink, "Butterbeer! Aha!"

"Do we really need to celebrate?" Hermione asked, rather timidly.

"Of course we do!" Luna replied, "It only seems fair! Well, we really didn't celebrate us completing our animagus forms, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate yours!"

"If only she didn't have the excitement she has now," Harry and Ginny heard Hermione mutter.

"Or the enthusiasm," Fred shook his head, although they knew he was silently laughing.

"Hey!"

"We need to get going anyways," Harry said, looking at the time, "It's getting late. And we can't all fit under the Cloak."

"Fine, let's go."

Harry and Ginny grabbed the rest of their stuff while the rest of the pack also got ready to almost literally sneak back to the Gryffindor Tower.

XXX

The air was hot and humid, bringing an unwanted heat on the Quidditch Pitch. Angelina, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, looked at the Gryffindor students trying out for the Quidditch team. So far, it seemed that she didn't like what she saw. Ginny was nervous, although she had thought she had done a good job trying out for the reserves, or even the starting Chaser. Well, she couldn't lie; she also tried out for reserve Seeker, since Harry had said she was fairly good at catching the apples at the Burrow. But those weren't snitches. They were apples, and they didn't fly at top speed, and they didn't have a mind of their own. There was something to be said about Harry's thoughts on things, but she didn't really mind.

_Why thank you._

_ Ha, ha, very funny._

_ You're welcome._

_ I didn't even say thank you!_

"Okay," Angelina finally decided, before shooting a small glare at Harry, "I want what's left of the Keepers and Chasers, no matter if you're trying out for reserves or starters, to stay here. The rest of you, I've seen enough to have a pretty good idea of my choices. I want the rest of you Chasers to go up against each other, with the two Keepers guarding the posts. No Beaters or Seekers, just you guys."

Nodding, Ginny walked to the middle of the Pitch, before she got onto her Firebolt, and launched off the ground. Immediately, the wind rushed into her face, and she gasped. Now, this was going to be fun.

Turning her broom so she was facing the 'other team', she gritted her teeth. Hopefully, this would actually work. If not, well, it was only Quidditch. Her brothers would argue otherwise, but it was just a game. She would survive, as she had for the past three years. But, damn it, Harry wanted her to try out for this, so she agreed. And that was when the game begun.

One of the opponent Chasers, who was Dean Thomas, got the Quaffle first. But, when he tried to pass it to the one of the other two Chasers on his team, a fifth year, but the fifth year missed the Quaffle. Seeing this as her chance, Ginny sped towards the ball, and caught it before anybody else had a chance. She sped towards the rings, and the Keeper, Cormac McLaggen, wasn't able to catch the Quaffle in time as it raced through the middle ring.

_"What do you think?" Angelina asked Harry, as they watched the game play out._

_ "Well, Ginny does good as a Chaser and Seeker, so maybe she could be a reserve for those two positions?" he asked, and when the seventh year nodded, he continued, "McLaggen for the Keeper. Although he's not the best, he's much better than what the other one is," he noted as the Keeper that was on Ginny's team wasn't very good, "And Dean Thomas for reserve Chaser, too. It would be better to have two positions for that, in case Ginny has to take my place in a match."_

The rest of the game play was excellent, in Ginny's opinion. She was able to make quite a bit of successful goals and take the Quaffle when it was dropped. By the end of the tryouts, a few beads of sweat were trickling down her collar. She sped back down to the ground, before hopping off her broom and walked back to where the Quidditch team was at. Well, she knew what the positions were going to be, she just had to act surprised. Harry silently laughed inside their minds, and she just shook her head. He gave her the insight anyways, but then again, she wasn't complaining one bit. "Aright," Angelina said once all of them were there, "I've decided. Potter for reserve Chaser and Seeker, along with Thomas for reserve Chaser. McLaggen, you're Keeper. That's my decision."

A few groans came from the other five Gryffindors, while shocked smiles came to Dean and Cormac's faces. Ginny also smiled, but she didn't feel as shocked as she should have been, no, she wasn't shocked at all. Damn, it would've been nice to actually be surprised. Ah, well, that was Harry's fault. Not hers. _Ha, ha, very funny. It's not my fault if you also listened in on it._

_ Maybe, but you shared the conversation._

After a quick and refreshing shower and changing back into her school robes, Ginny joined Harry and they walked towards the Castle. George and Fred were running around, one of the moments when George and Luna were separated, since she couldn't come down to the tryouts, having to catch up on homework and all. Ron had been studying, albeit rather forcefully by Hermione, since she didn't want him to fail his OWLS. It was still early in the school year, however, that did not seem to bother their friend one bit. Well, she didn't bug them, but that was just because the two of them didn't let her, and that they paid attention and shared their knowledge. Besides, they had more will power than Ron had to object, although those two were fighting all the time to even realize that they actually liked each other.

Making their way through the big doors and into the Great Hall, Harry and Ginny sat down, getting their dinner, while Luna joined them, taking out the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. "Ron's trying to convince Hermione to go to the library after dinner to help him study. I'll be surprised if she isn't even the least suspicious," Luna said, her wand still behind her ear, before getting some helpings of some foods.

"Perfect," Ginny grinned. Honestly, it had been Ron's idea to throw a surprise birthday party for Hermione. Of course, today was her birthday, but as far as she knew they had already given her gifts. She didn't know about the birthday party, yet.

As for the gifts, Luna and George had gotten her a book on ancient runes and another book on magical creatures, which she thanked them for. Ron had just gotten her some magical sweets, while Fred had somehow smuggled in some muggle sweets and he also got her a muggle book about snow leopards. Nobody knew how he was able to get those things, although Hermione had thanked him for just being able to get the items. Harry and Ginny got her a bracelet, which had a snow leopard charm on it, with an inscription engraved on the back of it, and it simply said _the pack_. Hermione had also gotten some fudge from Mrs. Weasley, and gifts from her parents. They knew it must have been nice for her, since she didn't have any siblings and her cousins couldn't know that she actually went to a school in the wizarding world, or the wizarding world itself. There were a lot of things she probably wished she could tell the rest of her family, although the rest of the pack didn't prod about it.

Fred and George joined Luna, Harry, and Ginny minutes later, before they filled their plates. "Does she suspect anything yet?" Fred asked in a hushed whisper.

"Not yet, I think," Luna answered, "I saw them walking into the common room a few minutes before I came down here. Ron was having a conversation with her; she agreed to go down to the library after dinner whole heartedly. Well, I guess that makes sense, who knew Ron would actually study?" she finished, and they all snickered quietly.

Ron and Hermione came down a few minutes later, and Ron gave them a subtle nod. Ginny, in reply, gave him a small smile. Everything was working out perfectly so far. And after dinner, they would go to the Common Room and prepare everything. Surprisingly, quite a bit of people were willing to help out. Well, most people had some sort of connection to the pack, whether through one of the members, Quidditch, classes, or siblings. Luna and George had somehow gotten even more butterbeer, and had even got refreshments, which had either been smuggled from the kitchens or ordered. The butterbeer, on the other hand, she didn't know how they had gotten that. And Ginny suspected she didn't want to know.

"Is it okay if Ron and I go to the library after dinner?" Hermione asked, biting her lip, "I mean, we could just study in the Common Room, although there are a few books he needs from the library, and I thought I would check some out myself."

"That's fine," Luna shrugged, "We were going to just write a few letters to Padfoot and Mary, but we'll send them tomorrow," she added after seeing Hermione's expression of thinking she had been left out.

"Okay then," the now-sixteen year old replied gently, "I guess I'll also work on my letter while we're there. Padfoot will probably want to know what's going on anyways, since we haven't sent them letters yet."

The rest of dinner was spent talking, other students wishing Hermione a happy birthday, and just enjoying the meal. After Ron and Hermione had left the table, a few other Gryffindors got up and walked over to them. Angelina, Neville, Dean, Alicia, and Katie all sat down in the free seats next to them, before they discussed what they wanted to do. Everybody else was in on the plan or at least the Gryffindors that they knew, and probably the rest of the Gryffindors as well. Whatever the reason was, almost everybody in the Gryffindor House knew about the party.

After they were done planning last minute details, the group quickly left the Great Hall and headed up to the Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady looked at them, before saying, "Do I even have to ask?"

"Nope," Ginny replied, before telling her the password, where the portrait promptly swung open to reveal the portrait hole.

The ten of them then walked inside, before taking the liberty to start decorating. There wasn't much in the way of designs, although Harry had tried to go for sketching and drawing some posters during August, and now that he actually had them with him, they were able to use the posters. Ginny helped him, of course, hanging the posters in spots where there were no portraits or paintings. It was kind of ironic how much that the ten of them wanted to do this, but hey, Hermione deserved it.

_A Knut for your thoughts, _Harry asked her.

_You already know my thoughts, prat._

_True._

"Are you guys done?" Fred asked, and when they nodded, he shrugged, "Suppose you could help George and Luna get the refreshments ready. It would at least be helpful."

Their house-mates started to come back, not really caring about the newfound decorations, refreshments, and just plain simple a suddenly conjured disco ball that Harry and Ginny had decided to make before helping out George and Luna. It turned out, there wasn't much more that either of them could do, so they finally settled onto a cozy loveseat near the fire, watching the flames dance. Neville plopped down onto the armchair right next to the loveseat, before saying, "Gran cancelled our subscription to the Daily Prophet; she said it was rubbish."

Harry was kind of startled at this; Ginny could feel it, although he nodded in response. Some of their fellow students also sat on the couches, loveseats, and armchairs, while others took an available desk and worked on their homework. Curfew hadn't been broken yet, in fact is quite a while before it would be broken for them, although Ron and Hermione could be back any single second by now, which worried Ginny. This wasn't exactly a surprise party, but they at least wanted Hermione to be somewhat shocked.

"Hopefully she'll like it," Luna sighed as she wiped her hands on her robes, "It's been a hell of a lot of work to prepare this, even though it's basically free snacks for everybody. We're also getting some odd looks, but I frankly don't care. Why, oh why, did Ron plan this and why did we agree with him?"

Ginny giggled, "Because you said it would be a good idea, Luna, that's why."

Luna huffed in reply, blowing a few loose strands out of her face. "Well, I would say don't trust my judgment next time, but that's rubbish. Besides, the fuzzwumps are probably going to eat the rest of the food if we don't finish it. Oh, Neville, there are a bunch of nargles floating around you, by the way." And with that, Luna walked away.

"Sometimes I really do think she's gone mad," Harry shook his head, before looking at Neville.

"What exactly are nargles?" the boy in question asked.

"Err. . . . It's a long story," Ginny replied.

"I'm still sane by the way, Harry," Luna sighed from the other side of the Common Room, and Harry harrumphed.

"I wish she wouldn't do that," he groaned.

"Do what?"

"Nothing," Harry shook his head, while Ginny bit her lip. Luna did know that they wanted to keep this all a secret, but she might not help them with that.

"Honestly Ron, are the goblin wars that hard to understand? I'll help you out next week, but _please _at least try to reread the facts about them. Visit the library more often, for heaven's sake!" Hermione chastised as she and Ron walked in through the portrait hole. Turning her head, Ginny watched in amusement as her friend's eyes widened and she gasped, "Oh Merlin!"

"Happy birthday, 'Mione," Ron grinned as she took it all in.

"How did you guys pull this off?" she asked, before somebody in the background turned on a wireless wizarding radio.

The rest of the party could only be stated as a success. Some of the students actually joined in on the party, while others just grumbled about the Common Room being disturbed. Hermione even got a few more gifts from her dorm-mates and other people in the Gryffindor House, although she looked beyond happy and shocked. Ginny did know she was usually hard to surprise, although they had somehow managed to pull this off successfully.

Harry had gotten a headache during the later part of the 'party', so Hermione demanded that the two of them go to bed. Not wanting to argue with her, Ginny and Harry went into their room, before the two of them got a glimpse into what Lucius and Nagini were doing.

XXX

"_Well?" Lucius demanded, his tone filled with anger, "What dirt do you have on Potter? It would be a shame to have to kill you, but we need something that we can take the boy out on. Something that will make him weak; Nagini hasn't eaten in a while, so choose your answer wisely."_

_ The field reporter, a man with dark brown hair and grey eyes, scoffed, "Skeeter left a bunch of things that I could use, and yet you ask me what kind of thing that I have available? Let me tell you, Mr. Malfoy, none of it will probably meet your expectations, except for one thing. This will bring him to crying at the grave. But I require payment, and I'm not going to accept no small amount of money. No, if you're willing to do this, I want at least five hundred galleons, six hundred tops."_

_ "You really are ruthless, Mr. Adrian," Lucius snarled, "Fine, I'll give you five hundred and fifty galleons for the article, now, what is it?"_

_ "I have a family to feed, mind you, but I'll accept the money. Now then, the dirt is strictly classified at the moment, but I'll have him remain anonymous, for now. I'll accept another twenty-five galleons for the unleashing of who it is, but it'll take a while. Now, I know you're not a blithering idiot, so here's what I got. Skeeter had taken a few pictures, which I will not release yet, but they support her notes on Harry. But everything else in the notes is stunning, you're lucky I got them before they were vanished. Anyways, there are two options you can choose; one is that Harry's actually heirs to the Peverell brothers, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor, but it seems kind of weak."_

_ "It does," Lucius agreed, "He's smart and brave, no doubt, but I need something more filling."_

_ "Good, I thought you would ask for the second option," Mr. Adrian grinned, before saying, "Well, there's been news going around that there have been werewolves at Hogwarts, but Mr. Potter is not a werewolf, contrary to some people's beliefs. No, there is something more interesting and fascinating. Look at the pictures, and then I'll tell you the rest, but lad, you're not going to believe it. Frankly, I didn't either at first."_

_ Lucius took the pictures, and his eyes widened at what he saw, "Potter's an animagus?" he asked in a disbelieving tone._

_ "Nope, but that's what the pictures would have you believe. That spellwork he's performing is actually a Charm, called the Blending Charm. It's so that his clothes won't rip, although the spell is usually performed when people are on dragon reservations or in the Amazons. It keeps from your clothes from being destroyed, ripped, or pulled off of you. Without that Charm, his clothes would rip. He's a born animagus; he even has a tail in human form. Not to mention that he also has all the wolf instincts, and he's dangerous to everybody in that Castle, probably would've killed somebody if his wife couldn't control him. I'll make sure to leave that part out, for now anyways, since I want people to use their brains and guess who it is. So, what do you think?" Mr. Adrian said._

_ Lucius blinked, taking it all in, before smirking and he replied, "Perfect. It's perfect; people will start to doubt him, just what I want."_

_ "Are you sure?"_

_ "I'm sure, Mr. Adrian."_

_ "Good. As one of the Board Governors, do you say that Mr. Potter is dangerous?"_

_ "Certainly, I believe that he could be a potential threat to the students," Lucius lied, his smirk growing even more._

_ "Aye, he could be dangerous. I'll work on it; have it publicized by tomorrow, earliest. Next week will probably be the latest, but I assure you I'll have it written and published within the Daily Prophet, so all of Potter's supposed friends will all give up on him. And if they don't, well, I guess they were already in on the secret, weren't they?"_

_ Lucius nodded, "He has a group of five friends, that they call a pack. The Potters also are in this supposed pack, so that brings their group to seven. I think that's way too many people, but we don't plan on decreasing the numbers through civil manners. You would make a great Death Eater, Mr. Adrian, do you know that? Since my son and wife have decided to betray me, we need another member or even members in our ranks. You know the Dark Lord is back, but some people just do a blind eye."_

_ Mr. Adrian shrugged, "I'm not too interested in becoming a Death Eater, Lucius, and I have three sons and one daughter, not to mention an excellent wife. We're all Ravenclaws, so I don't think we're all that cut out to join your ranks anyways. But be assured, we are going to remain neutral for this war, and possibly leave the country if we can't be. Although, I have to say, I'm unimpressed with how the Ministry of Magic is dealing with these things. Not releasing important information to the public, although I guess that's your doings. I'll get going now, Mr. Malfoy, have a good night."_

_ The reporter stood up and Lucius said, "Good night, Mr. Adrian."_

_ And with that, the reporter left._

**A/N: I'm sorry about another late update, but I think you can understand. Not to mention I've been sick, and I'm still feeling a tad under the weather. I've looked at this months' schedule, and damn it, it's another busy month for me at certain points, I won't lie to you guys. So, if I haven't been able to update recently, just know that it's because I've had some things planned that I can't change.**

**Review by Lilykees: ****I really enjoyed this chapter and you are right Harry and Ginny needed to relax. I hope the group torment Umbitch til she either goes insane or leaves.**

**Response: Yes, I gave them time to relax. But, I'm more of a suspenseful and adventure writer, so they never get to relax for more than a chapter or two, usually. That's not to say I don't give them happy and relaxing moments, 'because I do. Just not now; hmm, as for the tormenting and insanity, we'll just have to wait and see! Thank you for the review, by the way!**

**Review by Darrell-deam: Another good chapter, keep it up.**

**Response: Thank you! I'm sorry about another lack of updates, but I've been busy and I've really tried to work on personal life and actually going places. I don't even do that much, and yet I get a busy schedule! Thank you for the review!**


	8. Chapter 7: We're So Dead

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

**A/N: I know, I'm evil, you're welcome to your own thoughts. . . .**

Harry's eyes snapped open, and he shook violently in fear. No. No. No. No. No. NO! That couldn't be true, that could not be true. If Lucius was paying that bastard to do that, then Harry was good as expelled. Ginny groaned right next to him, before she wrapped her arms around him and sighed, "We need to get ready for the day. I know you're upset, but let's make sure that wasn't a hoax first."

He bit back a retort and nodded, and she released him. Harry then got up and got ready for the day, before the two of them continued on down to the Great Hall. The owls would not be out yet, so there was tension in the air of what was to come, if the vision was even true. Harry's head throbbed slightly, but he could deal with it, for now. Ginny loaded up his plate and gave him a glare that said 'if you don't eat I'll make sure you do'. Sighing in resignation, Harry stabbed the scrambled eggs on his plate with his fork. He wasn't even remotely hungry, but he forced himself to swallow the eggs, and continued on like that for an hour before Hermione came down, although she immediately put away her book when she saw their faces. "What on earth happened?" she asked them while filling up her plate with her breakfast.

"He knows," Ginny sighed, shaking her head.

"What?" Hermione gasped, before whispering, "What do you mean he knows?"

"Just that, he knows; apparently, Skeeter left a few folders of hers behind when she was clearing out her desk, and somebody got to them. Honestly, the world's gone insane. And somebody else decided to get revenge on us, and bribed a writer and reporter into getting the information leaked out. I'm honestly beyond mad; I'm in a furious rage. I just have a better time concealing it then Harry does, although he's doing a good job at keeping this down too."

"Dang," Hermione muttered, "What happened to having a good mind in the Ministry and Daily Prophet?"

"That's just it, Hermione, they don't. We're giving certain people our trust when they don't deserve it, and that makes them have power. In truth, certain people have bribed their way from getting sent to Azkaban or even into a Ministry position. Draco wasn't lying when he said that his father bribed Fudge so he could be claimed 'innocent'. And the man continues to bribe the Minister by making 'donations out of the kindness of his heart'. It's pure rubbish, and yet people believe it."

"Why, though? If people are that naïve, than what does that leave for you two, the pack, everything? You'd expect people to have a backbone, now, wouldn't you?"

Ginny shook her head and sighed, "That's where the turning point is; expecting and what actually happens. You'd expect people to have a backbone and not believe in rubbish, but some people really are just naïve, Hermione. And when people are that naïve, they believe in anything that the Prophet or any other newspaper wishes to say. Demelza Robins, one of my former dorm-mates, actually won't speak to me anymore. She says it's because 'You're the bond-mate to a psychotic teenage boy'. It's sick, I know, but people do believe in what the press says. And now we have another Rita Skeeter on our hands, which is beyond seething mad. It's mental."

"Good morning everyone," George yawned while Luna simply sat down, while Fred also surprisingly had come down early too.

"I'm not sure you're going to want to call the morning 'good' after you hear this," Harry muttered, and George raised an eyebrow.

"Sit, you're going to fall down if we tell you now," Ginny said. George shrugged and sat down, as did Fred, before Ginny started to talk again, "There's going to be something in the Prophet, something bad. _He _knows, just found out last night."

Luna, who had been spooning up some eggs, shrugged, and said, "I could tell. The Dabberblimps seem to also want to be around you two today, not to mention the nargles."

Fred and George, however, weren't as lucky. Fred's fork dropped and clattered onto his plate, while George dropped his plate onto the table. "What? Repeat that for me," Fred stammered, his eyes wide.

"He knows about our little problem," Ginny replied, and Fred blinked in shock.

"No. He couldn't possibly know that. How did that get out?"

"Skeeter left some of her files at her desk in her former office."

"Damn. And here I thought this was going to be a normal day," George sighed.

"Nothing's even remotely normal anymore."

"I guess that's true."

"This is just why I wanted to help other people," Luna sighed, steering the discussion to a different topic, as she pointed to a first year being hexed just outside the Great Hall, "Well, he's too young, but still. We're leaving other people defenseless. Besides, Harry, you've done quite a bit in your four years here. Surely you could teach other students some proper Defense?"

Harry sighed. Not this again. They weren't going to train people to be some kind of warriors. No, not people, kids. The pack was a different subject because Harry knew all of them well enough, if not better than even that. But to actually train other kids; other teenagers and children who had a chance at living a life after the war? No. That wasn't an option. Although. . . . Luna did have a point. Damn. "We already told you our opinion, Luna," Ginny growled.

Luna blinked before replying, "Do you want our friends to possibly die out there? It's not up to just you two to decide. Besides, I have friends from the other houses who wish they could train, who know the Voldemort has already returned. Astoria knows it, remember Ginny? What about the Patils? Padma, although she doesn't flaunt it, she does know that he's returned. Then there's Susan Bones and Alice Tolipan from Hufflepuff. I know you don't want to do it, but Harry, you've faced Tom three times! Who's to say that one of our classmates won't see Tom and wind up being defenseless? Now, I'm not saying they would win, but we need to give them a chance to survive this bloody war."

Harry shook his head, trying to clear his mind. They were not going to do this. But like before, Luna did have a point. _We're so dead._

_ Well, I don't know. What do you think?_

_ Harry, she's beaten us, and she brought up the one thing that we want our friends to have: a life after the war. I'm not sure she's going to allow us to say no. And it's not up to just us, that part she's got right. But that doesn't mean we should train a bunch of teenagers and preteens to go into battle._

"Are they going to accept it?" Hermione asked, snapping Harry out of their trance.

"Fine," he grumbled, "We'll do it."

"Yes!" Luna cried, "Finally, we can knock some common sense into you."

Owls then began to swoop down from the rafters, hooting with newspapers and letters alike tied to their legs. Harry suddenly became very nauseous, but Hedwig came down and nipped his wrist affectionately, before holding out her leg. Harry accepted the letter, which was from Sirius and Mary, before Hedwig took a piece of his bacon and flew off. Deciding that it was best to open the letter anyways, Harry opened the envelope and read the letter.

_**Dear Harry and Ginny,**_

_** So, Umbitch is at Hogwarts. Figures; she wasn't at her desk job in the MoM. Sorry about the language, but all of us here at the Ministry of Magic (those of us who know that Tom is back) hate her and that's her nickname. How have you two been doing, besides her greediness and thoughts on blood purity and the Third Task in the Triwizard Tournament? Hang in there, because she's only going to get worse as time progresses, and don't let her get to your head.**_

_** I'm sorry Padfoot can't help me write this letter, but he's been doing fieldwork for the group. Can't say much more in this letter, though, because it could be intercepted; sorry 'bout that. Anyways, don't let Umbridge know about You-Know-What. She's a sneaky little toad, and she's not rather fond of either of you, because she boasted all the time at her job that she and Fudge were going to have you two expelled from Hogwarts. But hey, you know that's rubbish.**_

_** I have a feeling some people I know are watching you, and I'm not sure what to say about that. Be careful and think carefully, go into an auror-like mode. It won't help if you make it known to them that you know they are watching you, as that will only make them all the more sneakier about it. The best advice I can give is to watch the students above your year closely, because there may be a few of them you have never seen in your entire life. Well, that's all for now. Be safe and careful.**_

_**With love,**_

_**Mary**_

Harry sighed and shook his head. She was helpful, beyond helpful, but he silently wondered what their reactions were going to be when they saw the Daily Prophet today or one of the edition's in the days to follow. It wasn't going to be anything good that was for sure.

Hermione covered her mouth when she read the front page of the Daily Prophet, and his stomach dropped. It seemed that he had been able to produce the article just in time. She handed him the Daily Prophet without another word, and he took it before reading it carefully.

_**DANGER LURKING AT HOGWARTS!**_

_**BY KALEB J. ADRIAN**_

_**With all the news conspiring about the Potters and what Hogwarts' curriculum is worth and what the dangers are at magical Britain's school, there has been something that I've uncovered just by hearing the other kids and folders on Hogwarts, and not to mention the interviews with the Board of Governors and the Minister of Magic himself. Because there is no question about it; there is a serious danger lurking at Hogwarts. Are our kids safe? Well, this is debatable, although many people have mixed ideas when I told them the information.**_

_** So, what is the danger? It's something that all of the teaching staff, minus Dolores Umbridge, and previous staff have known about. A student, who for now I will have them remain anonymous, has given his classmates and schoolmates some serious problems. "We're doing everything we can to protect the students," said Lucius Malfoy, father of one of the students, although he and his wife have divorced, "But when something like this comes up, it gives the students a risk that shouldn't even be allowed. And for that, it's unfair to let the student walk freely, especially with what is going on with threats of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returning, which is pure rubbish conspired from the Potters and Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore."**_

_** The problem is, this student has layered this under the most exclusive of wraps, and I couldn't find much information about it. So, I took the next great leap in trying to ask Dumbledore about the student, but I didn't get hardly anything. "This is confidential information, and as such, I do not have the right to tell you about the student, and I do not confirm this is true or is not. All of our students' information is confidential, and as such, it is by law that I do not tell you anything," Dumbledore stated when I asked him.**_

_** Confidential, eh; I couldn't believe that. So, I found some folders that the Daily Prophet had on some different students in the past three years or so, and BOOM! There it was, as clear as day. A student at Hogwarts is what I would call a born animagus. Well, it's exactly as what the name says, but there's so much more that the student has hidden from the public, including the secret. Because, you see, there is so much more to this then I had originally thought. The student does display some aggressive behavior at moments, and not to mention that the student could be a dangerous threat to our children at Hogwarts. But do not take your children out of that school, as I believe that the education although not following the Ministry of Magic's curriculum, could provide some good things for your child or children.**_

_** The student also has the instincts of an animal as well as a human's, and not to mention a physical trait of the animal that their animagus form is. There has been no information given from the Hogwarts staff to the public, and as such we are facing a questionable time. What on earth is going on at Hogwarts? Will all of this pose a dangerous threat to our children? Or is the student that good at keeping this all under the wraps? I will find out more information, but for now, that is it.**_

Whispers started to break out across the Great Hall, and Harry handed the paper back to her, his expression shocked and blank. Ginny let out a small moan, and only the rest of the pack could hear it. "They've done it," she whispered, before going back to her breakfast.

A few students looked angry at the revelation, while others looked completely and utterly shocked. Harry couldn't blame them. He was dangerous. But this article portrayed him as a monster. That was a sinking feeling, and it honestly put a dent into his ability to cover up anything unusual. He had covered this up for years, and now the whole wizarding world would know by the end of the week. What was Adrian playing at? It seemed that everybody in the outside world was against him.

_I can't believe it. How could he?_

_ I don't know why he did it, besides the money._

Dumbledore stood up, and the whole hall quieted down, while he said, "SILENCE!" Ron chose at that moment to walk in and sit down.

"What's going on?" he asked, and Hermione handed him the newspaper.

"Now, if you so very wish to leave the school because of this, then I suggest you leave right now and pack your bags." Nobody got up or moved one single inch, "I do not know how Mr. Adrian got this information, but I will look to the student's guardians to press charges or not."

Harry was shocked. Would Sirius and Mary really want to press charges? He didn't know, although he wouldn't put it past them.

"Well," Luna sighed, "This is just how it would happen; I knew it was going to happen like this. The nargles never leave a person alone, nor do the fuzzwumps. It was really only a matter of time before somebody saw fit to act how the fuzzwumps want them to."

Harry made no comment, but Ron threw the newspaper onto the table and growled, "Bastard."

"Ron!" Hermione shook her head, although they all knew she agreed right with him. Adrian was a bastard indeed.

Other students started to look around, obviously trying to see if somebody looked suspicious, but in the end, nobody would find anything. Harry had gotten used to this over the years; in order to keep a secret you had to act like you didn't have one. Thus, pretty soon the students who were looking around gave up, while Harry clenched his jaw. Some of them wouldn't be friends with him anymore, if they were his friends, if they knew what he was.

_Don't say that._

_ Well, it's true._

After breakfast, the four fifth years in the pack grabbed their things and headed down to their first class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures. It wasn't that bad, although Harry and Ginny had to admit, Hagrid showed them the more dangerous of creatures while Grubbly-Plank showed them a whole range of different and equally interesting magical animals. But still, their friend wasn't here, and that wasn't a very pleasant thought.

Once they got there, Harry's eyes skimmed over the Slytherins and Gryffindors. Four Slytherins in particular were standing away from the others, which was surprising. Blaise Zabini, Draco, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracey Davis were all opening their books, not really paying attention to the other taunting Slytherins. By Ginny's memory, Harry could tell that she looked like her younger sister Astoria quite a bit; the same dark brown ringlets, freckles splashed across the cheeks, and blue eyes. It was interesting to see the similarity, but not that unusual.

Opening their books, Harry and Ginny looked around, only to discover three unusual creatures in a pen. They looked exactly like horses, except they were pure white with golden hooves, and one horn each on their heads. Harry knew what they were; unicorns. It seemed that all of the other students did as well, since the unicorns were considered mythology in the muggle world. Grubbly-Plank then walked in front of the pen, almost blocking their view. "Well, it looks like all you lads and lasses are here," she noted, before continuing on, "Today we will be studying unicorns. Can somebody tell me the uses that a unicorn can have?"

Hermione raised her hand, and when the professor called on her, she answered, "The horn and tail hair can be used in Potions, while the tail hair can also be used as a wand core. The blood can also save you from near death, although you will be cursed when it reaches your lips, as you have killed something so innocent that it is a crime against nature."

"Very good, Miss Granger, taken ten points to Gryffindor," Grubbly-Plank nodded, before continuing, "Killing a unicorn should not be taken lightly, either. When unicorns are young, like the ones last week, they start out as gold, but later their fur turns silver, before their horns grow in. Now, boys, please back up some, because adult unicorns do not like boys, as they think girls are more innocent than boys are. Of course, Mr. Potter, you may try to get close to them, although I suggest that Mrs. Potter stay with you, just in case. Alright, please take out your parchment or notebooks, and write down your observations, as they will help you out with the essay on unicorns you have to complete."

Harry and Ginny then took out their parchment and quills, before the two of them cautiously walked over to the unicorn pen. In Harry's mind, they were magnificent. The two of them already knew the animals from Harry's third year and Ginny's second year, although with them out of their wolf forms, how would the unicorns react to them now? It was an interesting thought, although it was soon deemed to not matter, as one of the unicorns came over and stared at him directly in the eyes. Shocked, Harry stared back, until the creature turned its head and walked away. So they did recognize him, and that meant that they also recognized Ginny.

"Wow," Ginny breathed, breakfast long forgotten now that they were staring at the magical equines.

"You could say that again," he muttered, and they both smiled. There were some things that neither of them had to say out loud.

Another unicorn came over, and once again Harry found himself staring into the silver blue eyes of a unicorn. It seemed to recognize him, before he slowly reached out his hand, and the horned horse ducked its head under his hand, much to his amazement. Ginny also laid her hand on its neck, before she softly rubbed the fur. Harry, deciding that it was best to follow her actions, did the same thing, although he was careful not to touch the horn. It seemed to enjoy the attention, so he continued, a smile plastered on his face. The things that either of them got into were quite amazing, although this was beyond just the simple term; heck, it was beyond words. The fur was like silk, and the creature was almost in a trance. Harry wondered why, but chose not to question it.

When the equine finally had enough, which it showed by turning its head, Ginny smiled and said, "Thank you."

The unicorn nodded its head, before walking away, and Harry turned to her and asked, "Did that just happen?"

"I believe it did."

Some of the girls were gawking at them, but Harry didn't really care. If they were _**innocent**_ enough to be able to pet a unicorn, then that was just simply amazing. Harry wondered if anybody else had ever done it before, but then soon realized that probably hardly anybody ever petted one of the creatures. He didn't dare call it a beast, because it wasn't one at all. No, and they weren't horses, either. Far from anything that Harry could have described.

"I can't believe my own eyes," Hermione suddenly said, causing them both to jump. "How could that have happened? Unicorns don't let people touch them, hardly ever."

"That's just it, Hermione," Ginny sighed, "If they're that innocent, that means we have to be considered as innocent as them. I don't really like thinking about that, so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut."

Harry chuckled slightly. The things that she could come up with or say sometimes were very humorous. _Very funny, Harry._

XXX

Tracey was another person that Draco didn't ever think about as a neutral or even light side of things. She had glasses and plain brown hair, along with brown eyes. Tracey wasn't even remotely interested in blood purity, saying that if they couldn't put up with having muggleborns and half-bloods in the world, they could just go in a corner and cry like a little baby. Naturally, she was always considered the oddball in Slytherin; she didn't talk much, or voice her opinions, or even hang out with others. Draco didn't really know about her until one day she asked them, in a very quiet voice, what their opinions on blood purity were. When they told them to her, she kind of just stuck to them. Tracey didn't leave either, so that was another thing. So that left them as the outcasts in Slytherin, and they were bullied quite a bit sometimes. Well, bullying wasn't the right word. Stalking, taunting, those were the right words.

"How's your sister doing, Daph?" Tracey asked Daphne, while she was viciously taking notes.

Daphne shrugged and said, "I really don't know. We can't ever talk much in school, but last time we talked, which was miraculously yesterday, she said her friend Luna's group is planning to meet up in the first Hogsmeade visit, at Hog's Head. Something about proper education and that Astoria wants us to come with her."

"She wants us to come with her? To this meeting type thing," Tracey repeated, almost dropping her quill.

"Yeah, I said we would come, she almost got clingy. I know she doesn't have many friends beside Luna, Rory, and Luca, but she never gets clingy with me. Sorry, by the way, if you don't want to go."

"Its fine," Draco muttered, before he got back to taking his observations.

"I wonder why she wants us to go," Tracey asked, and Daphne shrugged again.

"I have no idea why."

Draco looked up from his observations, only to discover that the Potters were actually _**petting**_a unicorn. How? Daphne and Tracey didn't want to get close to them, and here two students were actually petting them. It was almost unbelievable, but Draco forced himself to look back at his notes and observations, and began to write more. He wasn't exactly jealous, but just to see _**them **_always being together, it was just a reminder of what he didn't have. At fifteen years old, most people were running around already, but he made sure that he wasn't. No interest, zero. Grades were supposed to come first, not a girlfriend. And that article. . . . If it was true, could Potter really be that dangerous? He acted like a normal teenager, usually, judging by that summer. They could have been acting around him, but Draco didn't think so. He didn't want to think that. They couldn't be that manipulative, unlike his father and unlike Voldemort.

Then there were the Potters' friends. Hermione Granger, well, he had to say, she was pretty, just not his 'type'. She could have easily been in Ravenclaw, just like Tracey or Daphne, although she was somehow placed in Gryffindor. Ron, well, he was a Gryffindor through and through. He wasn't the studious one in their group. Draco shuddered at the thought of a Ravenclaw Ron. And then, there were the Weasley Twins and Luna. Heck, he couldn't tell the twins apart by appearance, although he could tell them apart by who spent the most time with Luna Lovegood. She was something else entirely, and Draco wondered why she wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff, except that the Bond was there, so that must have stopped her from going there. But still, she was completely absurd. What were nargles, anyways? Draco didn't have a clue, nor did he really want to know. But the seven of them were all best friends, and that was something that Draco missed. He missed Pansy, Nott, Crabbe and Goyle. But he couldn't say he liked blood purity because he didn't. It was something that was now taught that it wasn't okay, and frankly, it wasn't.

"Knut for your thoughts," Tracey asked, and he sighed and shook his head.

There were a lot of things that were inside Draco's mind that he didn't want to tell anybody, Tracey especially. There was nothing wrong with her; it was just that she would often tell him something that made him feel guilty for even telling her. So, he kept his mouth shut. A sudden burst of giggles came from where the Potters and Granger were at, and he sighed. It was tough, realizing there were a bunch of things that those two could do, that he would never be able to do in his life. Some things that he wished he could do, like kill Voldemort, but he didn't have the magical strength or smarts to actually do it. Some things in life were just unfair, very unfair indeed.

And then there were those two strange people than ran into Draco, Daphne, and Blaise when they had been trying to get to their next class. Who the hell were they? He knew they were relatives of Luna and her aunt, Mary, just by their looks. But there had been something strange about them. If they were relatives, how could they be allowed to sneak around the castle like that? He had researched about it, and nobody could apparate in Hogwarts, there were too many wards on the Castle. So how could they have done it?

There were so many suspicious things going on lately, it was hard to even think about it. With Umbridge at Hogwarts, and the MoM interfering, it also meant that Draco couldn't do much about trying to find out the answers to the mysteries floating around lately. And with that article. . . . Who knows what Harry and Ginny could do?

"Alright, class," Grubbly-Plank said, "I want you to use your notes and observations to write an essay on unicorns. Give me their uses, and what you have observed. The essay must be fourteen inches long. This is due next week, so class is dismissed!"

"Yikes," Blaise sighed, after hearing about their assignment, "Professor Hagrid didn't assign essays."

"That was Hagrid, though," Daphne replied, getting her things, "This is a different Professor, and frankly, I don't like her. She's not suspicious or anything, but she's kind of strict. Come on, we need to get going."

Draco gathered up his things, and the four of them started to walk back up towards the Castle. He saw Weasley, the Potters, and Granger run past him, laughing, as Weasley was doused with water by Ginny. Some things just never changed for those seven. Some things just never changed for him, either. And that fact would always stay the same.

**A/N: Over one thousand and five hundred views! Wow, thank you! Anyways, this is probably going to be the last time we get a Draco POV for a while. I need to focus on Harry and Ginny, but I ran out of subideas for Harry's POV. Next chapter. . . . Hmm, it's a surprise chapter, as always, but I'm looking forward to writing it. Thanks for putting up with my continued absences, and believe me, they're making me angry too. A 3 to all of you for following this story so far, and another thank you; I'm hoping I can get the next chapter in by Monday at most, since I'm going camping over the weekend.**

**Review by Lilykees: Since Harry is Heir to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor they can't really do anything about him being in school. His ancestors created the school. His core group already knows so it will only be the sheep that have anything to say.**

**Response: Well, remember how old Sarah and James were when they died. They were over eight hundred years old, so do you expect anybody to remember Sarah's maiden name and James' heritage? Even Dumbledore doesn't know about it, yet. The pack already knows, but nobody else does, except for Sirius, Mary, and Remus. And the 'sheep', as you refer everybody else to, aren't really on his side at the moment. Remember, Harry and Ginny are viewed by the Daily Prophet as insane people, since they believe that Tom is back. Thank you for the review!**


	9. Chapter 8: Watchful

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

It had been a little less than a month since the day the Daily Prophet had released that article. A few students had questioned others, but they always came up empty. Ginny couldn't really say that she was nervous about those particular students, although by now they had finally stopped going around and demanding answers. But now, it was the first Hogsmeade visit of the year, and Luna was slowly leading them towards the Hog's Head where she stated the meeting was going to take place. That was just the most logical place, supposedly. Not too crowded, and discreet.

When they arrived there, really nobody was there. It was just the bartender, a woman in black lace, and a bunch of goats. The bartender was washing a glass with a rag that had been overused, as it was almost mud brown with dust and dirt. Harry and Ginny grabbed two chairs, before they sat down facing a few tables, not really expecting that many people. The other five sat down at a table, their expressions worried and anxious. Ginny couldn't blame them, her own heart was pounding. Hermione then produced a long parchment, fit with a quill and a bottle of black ink, before she set them out on the table. Other students slowly began to trickle in, starting with Angelina Johnson and the rest of the current Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

Before long, more people started to come in and take seats, and Ginny and Harry promptly stood up, both of them feeling more than just nervous. When almost everybody was there, the door swung open again, to reveal five people that were really unexpected. A girl that looked like Daphne Greengrass, although a little smaller, stepped in, wearing the Ravenclaw uniform, followed by her sister, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini, and Draco Malfoy. The other students didn't even bother to hide their shock; some of their mouths were hanging open, even. Astoria and the four Slytherins sat down at a single table, and then all eyes were on Harry and Ginny.

"Hi," Ginny began, and deciding that she was going to do the opening, she continued, "I guess if you're here, then you already know why we're here; to be taught some proper Defense. Because, I'm not going to beat around the bush, Voldemort is back."

A few kids winced, and others gasped, but Astoria spoke up, "So you two are going to teach us Defense? We know that you two can produce a corporeal Patronus, but can you really teach us what we need to know?"

"Harry fought You-Know-Who three times," countered Padma.

"Look," Harry sighed, and they all went quiet again, "It's not a matter of skill or power when you go against Tom, yes, his real name is Tom Riddle. It all comes down to luck. I was lucky to make it out alive from my first year, the Chamber, and finally the battle from the Triwizard Tournament. Tom has power, skill, and knowledge. You don't understand what it's like to go up against him. One small move could get you all killed, shot with an Imperius or Cruciatus Curse, and that would only be the beginning. He would turn your corpse into an Inferius; I at least want you all to have the chance to hopefully survive this war, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to be able to teach you everything I know."

"So you just had a rush of adrenaline each time you fought him?" Hannah Abbott asked, "That doesn't seem very likely, Harry."

"_**We **_didn't have a rush of adrenaline both times we came to meet him," Ginny replied, "The only thing we were looking for was survival. No matter what the Ministry tells you at the moment, Tom is back. He used a memory of himself in a diary and possessed me, I was lucky that Harry actually saved me in time before I died. Cedric's death wasn't an accident," she looked over at Cho, who now had tears down her cheeks, but she was nodding through them, "It was a bloody murder. The Killing Curse was fired at him, contrary to what the MoM tells you in the Daily Prophet. There are a lot of rumors going on about us, but if you even believe just one of them, please leave right now." Since nobody did, she added, "Not everything is worth risking your life, mind you. But going up against somebody as dark as Voldemort is, that's worth the risk. He can't die at the moment, so I wouldn't try to kill him. Just make sure you get out of there, and can fight him off for a second or two before you do. We want to teach you how to survive the fight, because Tom doesn't show mercy on children. He's murdered, raped, and tortured, the same as his followers. This isn't a little game, no, this is war."

"And why should we believe you?" Goldstein asked, although it was more of a debate question.

"Well, we can't really say if you should believe us or not," Harry shrugged, "That's all up to you. We're not here for you to decide what to do; we're here to help you learn Defense, nothing else."

"If it was all luck, then how were you able to reach the portkey in time?" asked a dreamy voice, similar to Luna's, and everybody turned to look at a fourth year who had a heart-shaped face, blue eyes, and chestnut brown hair. She was wearing the Ravenclaw Uniform, "By the way, my name is Diamond Erana. I just transferred from Beauxbatons last week, so I'm relatively new to Hogwarts."

Ginny blinked in surprise, but answered, "Survival was what we were focused on, not trying to get to the portkey. Honestly, we didn't even know if the portkey would go back or not, since they don't always go back to where they originally came from. And it actually didn't, which was surprising. But you know what? It doesn't matter in the end, because that one night we lost one of our friends, and it shouldn't have happened. I don't think any of you noticed that I had disappeared from the stands when Harry and Cedric reached the cup. But it doesn't matter in the end, it just doesn't matter."

Evidently, Diamond took this as a good answer, because she nodded and fell right back into her seat, although Ginny sensed she somehow had a connection to Luna, she didn't ask. "So, where do we sign up?" Daphne asked with her face in an expression of hope and worry combined.

"Right here," Hermione said, grabbing the parchment.

"Well, we have to have a name, don't we?" Katie Bell argued, and then added, "How about the Defense Association, DA for short?"

Everybody in the room nodded as Hermione wrote down the name. If they were connected to anybody, well, that would be bad, just in case Umbridge ever found out.

"Wait, where are we going to meet?" Colin Creevey asked.

"Go to the seventh floor, left corridor, next Saturday at seven," Ginny replied, and they all looked at her strangely, and she added, "You'll see why once you actually get there.

People then began to walk up and sign their names on the piece of parchment, right after the pack signed their names first. Diamond was next after Ron, and then the rest of them signed up and headed out the door, although she stayed behind. Diamond then turned to look at them, and nodded while saying, "Perfect. Now if you will excuse me, I must be on my way. See you later, cousins." And she quickly ran out of the pub.

"Really," Luna shook her head, "They really have to do that? We don't need to be babysat, ya know! But nooooooo, they do it anyways!"

"What?" Ron asked, and she huffed.

"Erana, I knew I knew that name! They just have to recruit her too, out of all things. We should probably send Mary and Padfoot a letter, seeing as this is how it's going to be. Anyways, Diamond's my cousin, threw my Dad's side of the family. She has two younger siblings, and like everyone else in my family, except for me, she's been taught by my grandparents. Damn it!" Luna replied as they went out of Hog's Head, "She just did Apparation, which proves my theory that she was trained."

"So we have a spy?" Hermione said, horrified.

"Yep," George frowned, "Why they want to spy on us, I have no idea why. Besides to train us maybe; but even then it sounds far-fetched. I don't think she meant to come to the Hog's Head, that's just too obvious of a reaction from us since she's trying to remain unsuspicious, unless she really did transfer here."

"She really did transfer here; I know it," Luna harrumphed, "Well, might as well get going. The Quidditch Match is tomorrow, mind you! Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw," she finished with a grin.

Although, Ginny was sure she had heard the bartender say in a low voice, "Just like Lily, just like James." But she couldn't be sure.

XXX

Ginny gripped her broom tightly, hoping that they would win. She was actually playing for the first match, since Alicia Spinnet had been hexed by some of the dark Slytherins, causing her to have to remain in the Hospital Wing for the next day or two. Harry was right next to her, before they walked out into the ring. "And there's the Gryffindor Team!" Luna shouted, "Johnson, McLaggen, Weasley, Weasley, Potter, Bell, and Potter! Spinnet is out of the match due to some unfair cheating by people I shall not name! And here comes out the Ravenclaw team; Davies, Chambers, Bradley, Chang, Lance, Webb, and Jameson! The Captains shake hands, AND THEY'RE OFF!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd loudly as Ginny and the rest of the players kicked off. "Potter gets the Quaffle first; she passes it to Bell, who passes it to Johnson, and it goes back to Potter! Potter shoots, and she scores! 10-0, Gryffindor," More cheers erupted from the Gryffindor side of the stands, and Luna continued on, "Chambers gets the Quaffle, passes it to Bradley who passes it to Davies! Davies misses the rings by a long shot, but Potter catches the Quaffle, and she speeds towards the other side of the field! She passes it to Johnson, who passes it to Bell, and Bell scores; 20-0, Gryffindor!"

The game continued on, and Ginny helped the other Gryffindor Chasers raise Gryffindor's score as much as she could, although the Ravenclaw Quidditch team also got in a few goals, but not nearly as much as the Gryffindor Chasers did. Harry was still on the lookout for the Snitch, which had mysteriously disappeared during the match, although Ginny had spotted it a few times. It was a shame she wasn't the Seeker, though, but Harry was better at chasing after the Snitch then she was.

Katie threw the Quaffle to her, and Ginny sped out after the other side, where the Ravenclaw rings were at. Her expression was full of excitement as she reached the rings, and threw the Quaffle at the left one. The Quaffle flew into the ring, and Luna shouted from the stands, "And Potter successfully throws in the Quaffle, marking the score 220-60 Gryffindor!" The Ravenclaws groaned in protest as the Gryffindors cheered on.

_I think I see the Snitch!_

_ Then go after it, you prat!_

Harry suddenly dived past her, as did Cho Chang, suddenly caught up in the match. Ginny continued on, again with the Quaffle, before passing it to Angelina who passed it back. She sped forward, and threw the Quaffle once again at the hoops, and she scored. Luna yelled, "And Potter scores again, 230-60 Gryffindor! It looks like the other Potter and Chang are going after the snitch. . . . AND GRYFFINDOR WINS, 380-60!" The Gryffindors screamed like mad as Harry showed them the gold speck in his hand, its wings fluttering as a grin arrived on his face.

Ginny sped towards Harry, before they were right next to each other. They then sped their brooms right back to the ground, and landed, just in time to see a grinning Fred, George, Angelina, and Katie. "We won!" Katie shouted, and Luna suddenly came running out, and hugged George.

Harry just shook his head while the team marched off to get changed back into their school robes and possibly have a celebration after that. Some of the things that the other Gryffindors did were hilarious. "Hey Potters!" shrieked a very familiar voice, "I bet your parents would be happy, Potter, but you wouldn't really know, now would you? Because they're dead," Harry immediately tensed up, since it was a low blow. They didn't turn around, though, as it would only cause Pansy to be influenced even more. "Too bad, Potter. Maybe you just can't answer, because you're too ashamed. Is that it? Are you ashamed that you're mother was a mudblood? Or how about your wife is a blood traitor? Are you ashamed of her?"

"I would bugger off, if I were you, Parkinson," Luna giggled, "Because unlike you, Harry and Ginny have more common sense than all of your cronies and yourself have, combined."

"And why do you care, Lovegood? Are you just standing up for them when they can't even do it?" By then, Harry had stopped, although Ginny held him back.

"No, they very well can do it," Luna replied grimly, "But they have really bad tempers. So I warn you, don't try t get them angry again, unless you want the nargles to come after you. And the fuzzwumps, oh, I forgot to mention the Dabberblimps! So, if ya know what's good for you, you'll leave them alone," by the end, Luna was smirking as Pansy and her cronies looked at Luna with a mixture of fear and anger, before they stalked off.

"Nice," Fred noted, "How the hell can you do that, though?"

"Practice," Luna smiled sweetly, "Lots of practice." Although, she didn't seem to be telling the direct truth; Fred just shrugged.

After changing back into their school robes, the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, minus Fred and George, went off to find their friends, while Ron and Hermione ran up to them, grins on both of their faces. "Nice job, guys," Hermione congratulated them, "And are you three planning a party in the Common Room, again?"

"Why, little 'Mione," Fred teased.

"We couldn't have just a few minutes of celebration, now that would be unfair," George grinned.

"Figures," Hermione muttered in reply, before they started walking back up towards the castle.

"Well, its tradition, isn't it?" Luna giggled, "They've always thrown a party for some reason or other."

"No party, guys," Hermione replied, "Save it for when you guys win the Quidditch Cup."

"My, my, very good thinking of you 'Mione," Fred laughed.

"Don't call me 'Mione," she said roughly.

"Why not," Ron asked.

"Because, I would prefer if you call me by my real name. Do I need to further explain it to you?"

Ron looked at her for a moment, before shrugging and they continued to have the conversation about whether they should party or not. Ginny and Harry weren't oblivious to it, although both of them chose to block it out as they walked with their friends towards the Castle. It had been a good match, although it went by rather quickly for Ginny, seeing how she had been actively playing, and the game had been a rush to her senses.

XXX

Diamond looked very closely at the seven of them, her eyes darting at their every movement carefully, as she did not take her eyes off any of them. They were strange, very strange, and not trained at all! The other three she could deal with being untrained, but her cousins, heavens no! It was a shame that her grandparents couldn't do anything, yet, anyways. She had promised them she wouldn't do anything to reveal herself too much, although striking a little fear in them was always a good idea. Fear made a person ask questions, and that was always a good thing. "Spying on them, sis?" Lance asked, and she turned around to look at her brother.

Lance had black hair and blue eyes, the kind of thing that popped up once in a while from Kadrella Gryffindor, Godric's wife. He was her twin, and he was in Ravenclaw, too. It was lucky for them that nobody spotted them that easily, since they were hardly noticeable. Rolling her eyes, Diamond replied, "Lance, don't you dare. You know what Grandmother and Grandfather, or are you not going to follow orders, Mr.-I'm-So-Rebel?"

"Calm down, Dia," Lance rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to mess with the Potters and their friends, or our cousin. Not yet, anyways. We moved here for a reason, no? And oui, I know what they told me. I'm not a blithering idiot, you know. Although you seem to treat me like one, and I'm not that much of a rebel; although, thanks for the comment."

"Unbelievable!" she hissed, swatting him on the arm, "Too bad you aren't going to join the DA. I told you, you should have come."

"Nope," he sighed, suddenly in the tree, leaning against a branch, "I do whatever I wish, Dia. I really don't care 'bout what ya think, because it really doesn't matter, now does it? Admit it; you have no power over me. I could walk right up to Parkinson, kill her or give her a taste of her own medicine, and you couldn't do a thing. Pathetic, really; although you already know that, now don't ya?"

"Lance!" she growled, and he rolled his eyes in a bored expression, "You are so despicable sometimes, you idiotic bastard!"

"Touchy," Lance hissed, "You actually cursed for once. It's an amazing feat, not! Oui, I may be despicable, but you're the one who doesn't know how to play it low and how to stalk people without warning them of your presence. Only I can do that, and you know it. I'm a vital tool, even more so than you, sis."

"You may be vital, but you're still annoying as hell," she sighed, "C'mon, we really need to get going, or at least go to a different position, we'll be spotted too easily."

He seemed to ponder what to do for once, before he turned back to the tree and laughed, "Nah, that wouldn't be too much fun, now would it? I would rather like the battle, thank thee very much. A battle's more interesting anyways. Or at least, more interesting than you," That was when an arrow hit the branch right next to his, but he just rolled his eyes and pulled it out, before flicking it away, "Nice try, Moon, nice try. But, you didn't surprise me in the least, ya know."

"Of course," laughed Moonstone, jumping down from the trees, as did Quinn, "That would be too easy, with your natural echolocation and all. We only meant to startle Diamond, but it looks like we didn't succeed. As for you, Diamond, you did not notice he put up a Wizard-repelling Charm, although it only works on those you do not wish to come into a certain area. I told you to be aware of your surroundings, and you know that you should be."

Diamond nodded, feeling a little guilty for not noticing that, although she was entirely focused on trying to watch the 'pack'. It had been worth the effort to get as much information as she could, although she didn't get to have as much personal time as usual. She didn't mind that, though, because she wasn't used to having it. With Lance here, and Damion, "Hello everybody," the boy in question grinned, appearing out of nowhere.

Damion had pale blonde hair, and the most startling feature, dark red eyes that looked like a dark amber eye color. Diamond huffed and rolled her eyes, and he blew her a raspberry before turning to look at Moonstone and Quinn and he asked earnestly, "Any reports on the Potters, or should I go back to work for looking out for the Slytherins? I'm sorry that Parkinson somehow slipped through my grasp, but she's a tough little devil."

"No, Damion," Quinn shook his head, "No reports on the Potters, yet. I trust that my granddaughter is working hard, or is she just staring at the ground all the time?"

"No sir," she answered truthfully, "They seem to be acting like any normal group of friends would, not really acting like I would've expected them to. No telltale signs, yet, at least. I signed up for their DA meetings, I know Luna recognized me, and she probably told them, as did Mary. But I'll act like everything is normal; Merlin knows that it won't work to have them more suspicious of me than usual. And before you say that it was a dumb idea, let me remind you that we have to resort to desperate measures here; they aren't very good to get stuff out of without revealing yourself."

"The joys of spying on a pack of teenagers," Damion snickered, "They're always so mysterious that you can't even do much."

"Let me remind you that although you already completed your education, that you are only fifteen," Diamond said sourly.

"Okay, enough!" Lance growled, "It's really too boring with you two shouting all the time."

"Says the sylph," Diamond grinned while he growled.

XXX

Ginny knew somebody was watching them; it only hit her earlier that day, when they were walking back from the Quidditch match. Something hadn't been right. Something had been out of place. As if a pair of eyes was on her, and she didn't like the feeling. With the hyperawareness of her animagus form, she knew something wasn't right. Nobody messed with her head like that, nobody. They were stealthy, just like Mary said. Very stealthy, indeed, and she couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.

This hadn't happened for a very long time, not since her second year, but it was a feeling that she hadn't forgotten. It was the feeling as if somebody was judging her every move, or as if she hadn't really done the right thing, even though she knew she had. Who the hell was watching her, and why? She knew that Harry felt it too, although he remained in control and didn't let his mind go reeling at the possibilities or who was keeping tabs on them. He had better control than she did, to say the least.

"Everything's fine, Ginny," he had told her when she had told him what she was thinking, as the sensation had been going on for a whole week.

But it couldn't be fine if this person was dark-aligned. At the very least, it could be very dangerous if they were a Death Eater or that darned snake that Voldemort owned. Another chill ran up her spine; that snake was pure evil, as if it was radiating from it. But it still didn't help to remember the graveyard scene, which both had made the effort to block out of their heads, although they did allow themselves to watch Cedric's death over and over again in their nightmares and that Voldemort had returned. Everything else, though, she didn't dare try to think about, especially not the snake. The snake had looked at them when Harry had made the effort to speak to it, like it thought that they couldn't possibly be saying that with a serious tone and not joking.

Especially now, as they were walking towards the Room of Requirement, came the feeling that was still haunting her. Harry squeezed her hand reassuringly, but it didn't help anything at all. Her vision blurred for a second, but she forced herself to not run. He glanced at her worriedly for a second, but she shook her head. It was just instincts, and although she didn't live off of them like he sometimes did, they told her when something was up. It was just one of those times when she hoped that they were wrong. Because if they weren't and somebody on the Dark side was watching them, well, havoc would then erupt, so she ignored it as best as she could.

Like a flame, it seemed that the watcher was taunting her senses and instincts, and she especially didn't like that part. Nothing could possibly get under her skin like that, not even Parkinson and her cronies. But yet, it somehow did. And her nerves were just about at their wits end, trying to find out who was causing it. _Are you sure?_ Harry asked her skeptically, and she gave a subtle nod; she was sure that somebody was watching them.

_I'm sure, Harry._

_ Sorry I doubted you, then. How come I can't feel anything?_

_ You haven't been feeling anything because when you unleash yours, you really can't control them that well. And you haven't unleashed them lately, now have you?_

_ I guess you have a good point, but that still doesn't explain who would be watching us._

_ Erana, maybe; she's related to Luna, and Mary warned us about people she knows. Maybe the Lovegoods are watching us, although I severely hope that isn't true, because then we would have one hard time trying to catch her, you know how good at hiding secrets Luna is. Imagine what her family could do._

Harry mentally groaned at the thought of that. _Now that you mention that part, it seems more than likely that that happened. Although, Diamond seems to hang out with that one boy a lot, they look like they're related. He could be watching us?_

Ginny thought about that for a moment. In truth, she had noticed that Diamond had been walking around with that one boy, and he did look similar to her. Although, you couldn't exactly tell, because his expression was always bored; and although she was a year above them, she saw them bustling through the hallways, always together. Diamond would always seem like she was chatting to him about something, and he would just shrug his shoulders usually, or seemingly give a one worded answer. Although, the boy didn't seem like a good enough answer, because although he seemed powerful and sneaky, he seemed to be too collective and too much of a daredevil to do anything Diamond, however. She seemed like a peculiar girl, a sense of conflict, and although she seemed weak, there was a sense of power; Ginny could pick it up easily.

_So you think the girl's doing it._

_ Well, it seems like the most logical of answers._

Finally reaching the wall where the door to the Room of Requirement would appear, and checking that nobody was in the hallways, Harry let go of her hand and walked in front of the wall three times, thinking about how they needed a place to train and practice. After his third time, the familiar door slowly appeared, and the pack hurriedly ran inside, before Harry requested that only the DA members be allowed to get inside the Room, which with a click, signaled that his request had been granted.

The room was familiar, in the sense that the same red, thick carpet, was still there. As well, as the practice dummies in one corner, the bookshelves in another, while in another corner there was something similar to a meadow. And in the last corner, there were some beanbags and pillows, for practicing Stunning Spells and the like. With another thought from Harry the red carpet then turned into a floor that was green, although it looked like there was grass underneath them.

Thankfully, the feeling was gone, although Ginny still remained aware that the feeling could return any single second, and she definitely did not want that. So, she walked over and settled down onto a beanbag, knowing it would be another couple of minutes before anybody actually started to come in, while George and Luna went outside to look for people, both of them casting the Disillusionment Charm on themselves, before opening the doors and going outside. That, in a way, was one of the useful things about the four of them learning that Charm over the summer, which Sirius and Mary had advised, just in case something happened when they would need it. And that was helpful, in a way.

**A/N: I'm so very sorry about the serious lack of updates, but I actually got really sick on our camping trip, and we didn't make it back until Monday. I had to recover for the past couple of days, although I'm still not feeling 100%. And I'm being dragged down to another camping/hiking area by some more family, because they saw 'I desperately need more sun'. So, please forgive me if I don't update for another few days. It happens, although I really wish it didn't.**

**Review by Darrell-deam: Excellent chapter, I just wish Harry would get over thinking that he was dangerous and get on with his life.**

**Response: He usually doesn't think like that, as Ginny would personally swat him if he did, so it was just a sort of relapse, in a way. Deep down, he doesn't think that, though, he's just too afraid to admit it. He's been 'trained' to think like that. Harry's a pessimist, while Ginny's an optimist. Thank you for the review!**

**Review by Lilykees: I beg of you to please, please, let Harry get rid of or at least make it so Harry's bad side is gone or made only to be used to fight evil.**

**Response: His bad side, I'm guessing you mean his slightly maniac side? Well, he doesn't let it come out often, and as for getting rid of it, its part of his wolf side. He made a mental cage around it, although an animal will always try to escape, and sometimes that dark part of his animal instincts does. As for fighting evil, we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the review!**


	10. Chapter 9: Riddles

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP, JKR does.**

**A/N: Thanks for another long wait, sorry. I'm trying to update at most every two weeks, and so far I've been able to do that!**

Harry opened his eyes, and in an instant, he was cursing himself for realizing he had dreamed about that damned door again. The door had been in and out of his dreams for quite a while, and he never understood why. Why it had to be that stupid damn dream almost every single night, why he couldn't just get it out of his mind or at least get rid of the memory. But no, he was stuck with the dream, as was Ginny. Harry supposed he was kind of grumpy because today was an agonizing day for him; today was Halloween, October 31st. He had never liked Halloween in the first place, and he had never wanted the day to come, but it always did.

The first time that Harry had discovered his distaste for Halloween was when he was four, and he had found Petunia drowning her sorrows with a bottle of sherry, listening to the blues and her eyes were unfocused. Harry, although four, had asked her what was wrong, because he had never seen her so depressed. At the time he had had a broken arm, although he ignored the pain as she answered, "Well, Harry, you're parents died today, for you." He knew what death was, and that had hit him hard. Harry remembered that he knew he was an orphan at the time, but he never understood why, exactly. It was always that he lived with the Dursleys, and that was that.

Two years later, Harry had begun to realize that he was probably lucky to be alive. It wasn't a nice feeling either, it just made him realize just how alone he was in the world, how he didn't have any other family besides his aunt, since he didn't consider Dudley or Vernon his family, and even after they had died, he still didn't. But, that one Halloween night, everything had changed. He had realized that if his parents had died at the hands of a man called Voldemort, he wasn't going to let himself die too. So, he turned to survival books to give him information, having learned how to read at the age of three. In a matter of weeks, he had read as much muggle survival books as he could, and with no means of getting any magical books, he had decided to start learning some methods of fighting, so he picked out some of those books. And besides his methods of fighting as a wolf, those were the only means of physical attack that he had. He didn't want to be weak anymore, and he finally mastered a type of combat fighting. That had suited him just fine, since he didn't know of anybody else who could help him learn any other fighting techniques.

And then, there was the Halloween in his first year at Hogwarts, which led to Hermione almost dying. It was that sort of thing that convinced Harry that for him, Halloween was a cursed holiday. Bad luck always seemed to happen. _Don't be so superstitious_, Ginny said, and he rolled his eyes.

_Well, look at all what happened on Halloween for me._

_ I suppose you have a point, albeit rather a weak one._

Once they got ready for the day, the two of them walked out of their room, quite glad that nobody was usually up at this hour, save for a few studious kids who wanted to prepare early for their OWLS or NEWTS, one of them being Hermione. She was on one of the loveseats, books and scrolls of parchment surrounding her, a book in her lap as well as a few quills and a bottle of ink on her immediate right side. She was fully focused on only her studying, so the two of them were able to sneak out of the Gryffindor Common Room quite easily. "Who knew that she was that studious, even when it's the beginning of the year?" Ginny giggled, causing both of them to laugh.

The few DA lessons, which in reality were three, that they had had so far been a huge success. Everybody kept on coming back, wanting to learn more and more, and Harry thought that they were lucky enough to actually know as much as they did, or else he wouldn't have known how to help all the students out. Dia, as Diamond preferred to be called, seemed to already have had training in the DADA subject, Harry had noted by the time the second lesson was over. Although, when he had asked, she had told him she hadn't, although he could tell that she was lying, and so did Ginny.

Finally walking into the Great Hall, the two of them sat down and immediately started helping themselves to the breakfast that the house elves had made. Although, five minutes later, a breathless Hermione made her way down to the Great Hall, and she collapsed onto her seat, before putting some food on her plate. "You alright, Hermione," Harry asked her, "You're usually not up as early as we are, or at least, not that we know of."

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered, "I was just studying, that's all. Happy Halloween, by the way," she finished.

"Sure," Harry muttered sulkily, "Happy Halloween."

"What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked Ginny, biting her lip, before her eyes widened. "Oh! Sorry Harry, I kind of got caught up in my studying, so I didn't have time to actually realize what today was."

"Its fine," he nodded, before picking at his breakfast.

Although last year he hadn't really been that depressed because of Halloween, he had been depressed and trying to prepare for the First Task in the Triwizard Tournament. Godric that had been a very hectic start to his fourth year at Hogwarts; and his third year, well, he had been scared that his godfather, ironically, was going to come after him. Second year, well, with the attack on Colin Creevey, he had been scared out of his wits, although he hated to admit it. Although he usually had something on his mind to stop him from thinking about it at Hogwarts, it seemed that today was not the case. Instead, he was forced to remember just why he was considered the Boy-Who-Lived, probably for the umpteenth time.

Luna came down next, somehow without George, although she was scowling and sat down, before getting some breakfast. She looked rather pale, although not much paler than she usually was, and her scowl got even worse. "George and Fred aren't feeling well," she explained when they gave her a curious look, "I'm demanding that they go down to Pomfrey and get a Pepper-Up Potion, but George says he won't, even though I'm not feeling one hundred percent as well."

"Yikes," Hermione sympathized, "That must be terrible."

Luna nodded, before going back to pick at her breakfast, although Harry heard her muttering things that didn't even make any sense. She seemed to be complaining about how something wasn't working properly, although he couldn't exactly tell what the name or subject was that she was talking about. Yes, it definitely was something strange, or unusual, but maybe not overly so. _That's the thing, though, you never know sometimes._

"He's still not going to take it," Fred yawned as he sat down, "Set on building up his immune system, although, he said that the. . . . Taste to the Pepper-Up Potion was disgusting, and it is."

"That's still no excuse not to take it," Hermione countered, and Luna suddenly seemed very interested in the ceiling, Harry noted.

"That's what he said, and I suppose it's his opinion, because he's not going to take it. Honestly, although it tastes disgusting to me, I still take it," Fred shrugged, before he got his breakfast.

Ron walked into the Great Hall next, although he looked rather exhausted. When he sat down, he glared at Fred and said, "Thanks for the alarm by arguing, but I don't need it, thanks," before he loaded up his plate and started to wolf down his food, much to the displeasure of Hermione.

"Why are you sulking?" Luna asked, before her eyes lit up in shock, "Oh."

Harry, however, was quite glad that she didn't push the subject any further. Although it didn't really bother him anymore, Halloween, it was still quite a sore spot. Ginny really didn't seem affected by his slightly sour mood, although it was a kind of personal topic.

XXX

_Harry was eight years old and the date was Halloween. He watched with a scowl on his face as Dudley was all dressed up in his dragon costume, while Harry had promptly said he wouldn't even dream of going trick-or-treating. He had blocked out the painful fact for the entire day, although he was having an increasingly painful headache from blocking it out, not to mention that the flash of green light was always there when he blinked. So far, Harry had pushed away almost all of the food he was given, and that gave Petunia some reason to be worried. His stomach growled, but he ignored it. Today was not a good day for Harry James Potter._

_ "Get lots of candy, Duddykins," Petunia cooed, although Harry could tell she was secretly disgusted with just how fat her son was._

_ "Of course, Mum," Dudley replied._

_ And with that, Vernon and Dudley left the house, leaving Petunia to watch after Harry. She turned to look at him, her facial expression softening, before he sighed, "I'm not hungry, Aunt Petunia. I don't feel like eating."_

_ "You have to eat something," she argued, "Or else you're going to starve. Halloween is not an excuse to skip meals and lock your bedroom door. I don't care if you don't feel like it, because your stomach is telling you otherwise. Even just a roast beef sandwich will do, for heaven's sake!" And with that, she walked into the kitchen, probably to get something for him to eat, although he really didn't want to eat anything, just the thought of it made him slightly nauseous._

_ Harry walked over and sat at his seat at the dining table, looking at the white colored walls. The walls were always white or a pale pink or pale blue, never yellow and never red or green. Not even black was a wall color, or carpet or rug color. He didn't particularly like the color yellow, but that was no excuse to not have it in number 4, Privet Drive. Harry much preferred black, green, or red, although red was more preferred than the others._

_ Petunia set a plate in front of him, where a corn beef and Swiss cheese sandwich was on it. Harry blinked, although all his aunt said was, "Eat," Before she went to cleaning the house, for the umpteenth time._

_ Harry sighed and picked up the sandwich, and forced himself to take a bite. It was a good, although if anything, it made him even more nauseous. He swallowed, and continued the process until there was nothing left, although it seemed from the last beating that his stomach just couldn't take it. Harry sprung from his chair and raced into the bathroom and the contents of his stomach promptly came back out. "Harry?" Petunia asked; only to find him in the bathroom a few minutes after he came in, his face pale with sweat shining on his face and forehead, while his limbs felt like jelly and his eyesight was quite dizzy._

_ He somehow managed to get into a sitting position, leaning against the bathtub when she opened the door, and least to say, she was shocked. He hadn't exactly made it all the way to the toilet in time, and had also somehow managed to open some scabs on his arms, causing them to bleed. Least to say, he and the bathroom wasn't a pretty sight. He winced slightly as a stinging sensation ran through his arms and back, and his fingers started to tremble. Petunia didn't have any words for what was going on, but Harry focused on the stinging sensation, and it slowly went away, although not entirely. His arms eventually stopped bleeding, and some of the cuts actually healed, before he got up and walked past her. It was his fault for throwing up, he had actually let himself get beaten even worse than usual, and his stomach was never up for it when he put it through that much stress and strain._

XXX

The rest of the day continued on, until he and Ginny were walking out of DADA, Umbitch acting like usual, although Harry didn't really think much of it. She was always that, well, bitchy, and he wasn't going to let her make his day any worse. Ginny gladly pointed out that he was acting like a teenager, and he pointed out that both of them were in fact teenagers. He had laughed when she had retorted that she was having too much fun, and that she wanted to actually try and cheer him up, not get him angry or depressed even more. Well, she did lighten up his mood, so she must have considered that a plus. Hermione and Ron were bickering once again; on what topic he had no idea.

Although, they had actually had four animagus practice since the beginning of October, and surprisingly, Fred also completed the transformation, leaving Ron still struggling. But Harry and Ginny told him that it was different for everybody, and that seemed to lighten his mood some, although not much, which led him to start bickering with Hermione. Harry mentally swore each time they did, as it would usually give all of the Gryffindors a good sized headache, when they did argue like that. It also didn't help when you had hypersensitive hearing. He was about ready to snap, but he didn't. Instead, he tried to block them out as best as he could, but so far that wasn't working.

"Honestly, Ronald," Hermione started to say, before Ginny placed a Silencing Charm on the two.

"Leave them to their own devices," she advised, "I want to see how long it takes them to figure out they can't hear us and we can't hear them."

Several of the students surrounding them snickered, while others didn't know to look scandalized or shake their heads at what Ginny had done. Although, Harry whole heartedly agreed with her, the best way to make those two shut up and stop bickering was to put a Silencing Charm on them, so that when they realized that nobody else could hear them and they couldn't hear anybody else, evidently realizing that their arguing was so annoying that people just wanted them to stop it. The perfect plan to have a headache-free day, even Ginny snickered at what he was thinking.

Harry and Ginny followed the seemingly silent Ron and Hermione into the Great Hall, where their two friends sat down, still arguing. Luna took one look at them before she started to giggle, looking much better then she had at breakfast and lunch. George was there too, although he just shook his head, as did Fred. "Who silenced them?" George asked, although Ron and Hermione still didn't seem to notice that they had been silenced.

"Me," Ginny replied, "I get annoyed when they do that, and Harry gets a headache."

"Merlin knows that those two need to put a sock in it sometimes," Fred muttered, "I'm almost insane from their bickering."

"Weren't you and George already insane?" Luna asked with a straight face, "I mean, you almost drowned Draco quite a few times, you took the Marauder's Map from Filch's office, called Harry the Heir to Slytherin when everybody outside of our group started to hate him," she faltered when she saw the grins on the Twins' faces.

"You know, she's right," George smirked, and she rolled her eyes.

"The things I say sometimes," Luna sighed, before filling up her plate.

Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione, who both know realized the Silencing Charm. Harry snickered while Ginny released the Charm, and Hermione instantly said, "Ginny!"

"What?" she asked innocently, "You two were bickering. And although you don't seem to notice, not everybody wants to hear you guys argue all the time. It's annoying. Besides, it gives us all a headache to just listen to you two argue."

Ron just seemed glad to be able to listen to the conversation as he ate his dinner, although Hermione wrinkled her nose when he did. "Sorry," she apologized, "I guess we deserve it."

_Don't apologize; it's your way of flirting._

Ginny covered up her laughter by taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, although Harry was better at containing his laughter than she was, sometimes at least. It all depended on what was exactly being said, although sometimes, neither of them could contain their severe amusement or laughter.

Harry found the decorations a little bit over the top, to be perfectly honest. There were gleaming gold candles like usual, but also humongous jack-o-lanterns from the pumpkin patch that Hagrid had. He also noted how some people gave him looks of sympathy when they thought he wasn't looking, or how they sneered at him when it was possible. It seemed that everybody except for his group was under the influence of actually having a holiday, and even the teachers, except for Snape, seemed a little bit more relaxed instead of trying to work them to death. But, tomorrow, it would go back to the hectic schedule as usual for the fifth years, leaving many of the students groaning about how their OWLS were a long ways away, while others snickered at their complaints. It would just be another natural thing, and as Ginny put it, his sarcasm would go away.

She had stated this over the summer, because whenever he was in a sour mood, supposedly, his sarcasm and crude humor would come out.

"_**Hem, hem,**_" said a voice that made Harry's stomach lurch. The whole Great Hall went quiet when Umbridge spoke when they were all about to leave. Umbridge, in her pink cardigan, looked at them all with a fake smile plastered on her face, hell, even the teachers looked upset, Umbridge continued "As High Inquisitor assigned by the Ministry of Magic, my first decree is that all clubs except for Quidditch are no longer permitted unless they have _**my **_permission to be allowed or reform. If they do not have my permission, they are considered illegal, and anybody who joins those illegal groups can and will be expelled. Thank you."

"How did she find out?" Hermione asked in a low voice when they were walking back up towards Gryffindor Tower, "I mean does she have spies or something?"

"Do you think anybody in the DA told on us?" Ron asked.

"No," the sixteen year old shook her head, "We would know if anybody told on us. I have to say, it won't be a pretty sight either, but alas, it would tell me who betrayed us, and seeing how nobody has—well, you would know," she finished while a small smirk grew on her face.

"I'm getting the feeling that the Twins have grown on you," groaned Luna, "We don't need more of them running around."

"Don't you like to prank people yourself, Luna?" Harry asked, with a note of humor in his voice.

"That is irrelevant at the moment, thank you very much," Luna said stiffly in reply, before they all burst out laughing.

Making their way into the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry saw some of his fellow house-mates doing homework, Seamus and Dean playing wizard's chess towards the window in the background, and Crookshanks sitting on top of the nearest couch, although nobody seemed to notice. Of course, there were also Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown gossiping on that couch, both of them eager to learn about what the other had been eaves-dropping on, so that they could spread even more rumors across the school. Hermione looked kind of uncomfortable when she spared a glance at the two, although she immediately went up the staircase to the girls' dorms to get her homework, while Ron challenged Luna to a game of chess, which she whole heartedly accepted.

Fred and George went off to plan some of their pranks, leaving  
Harry and Ginny to their own devices. Evidently, the two collapsed onto a loveseat, causing Parvati and Lavender to stare at them for a moment, before the two of them started to giggle and turn back to their gossiping. Harry and Ginny started up a conversation inside their minds, although the first topic she chose had him rolling his eyes.

_So, it's not that bad of a Halloween, now is it?_

_ No._

_ The nerve of you sometimes, honestly!_

_ Yes, dear._

_ Don't you 'yes, dear' me!_

He mentally snickered, and she realized he was being sarcastic, and she joined in on the laughing as well.

When they were finally ready to go to bed, which was around a quarter til twelve, and having finished off their assigned homework, Harry and Ginny walked into their room, only to find their usually messy bed made, and a letter in a scarlet envelope lying at the foot of the bed. Thinking it was a Howler, Harry picked up the letter, only to discover it wasn't. So, he tore open the envelope, and reached in, only to pull out a small piece of parchment with very neat writing on it.

_**Some are quick to take it.  
Others must be coaxed.  
Those who choose to take it  
gain and lose the most.**_

_**What is the answer?**_

_**D.M.C**_

"What the bloody hell?" Harry muttered, and Ginny came over and read what the parchment said.

"Why, though?" she asked, "Is it supposed to be a riddle of the sorts?"

"I guess so," he answered, "But what would the answer be?"

"Well, let's see. _**Some are quick to take it. **_It's a something, not someone. _**Others must be coaxed. **_It couldn't be an animal of the sorts, so maybe a potion or an action? _**Those who choose to take it gain and lose the most. **_Gaining and losing. . . . What can you do to both gain and lose?" Ginny bit her lip, before her face lit up, "Risk! Some take risk without thinking, and others must be coaxed. But if you take risk, you will gain something, whether it is punishment or something spectacular, but you will also lose something in the process!"

Harry nodded, before he dropped the parchment in shock. Below the question of what the answer was, appeared the word, _**Risk**_, followed by Ginny's explanation. The parchment immediately flew into the envelope, before the envelope itself burst into black and dark red flames, although the flames didn't burn anything in the process. That was beyond strange, and Ginny gasped in surprise, before she stared at where the envelope used to be. "Well, that's unnatural," Harry finally said after a few minutes of silence.

"Why would somebody want to do that, though?" Ginny asked as they both sat down on the bed.

"To test our minds?" he tried, "Although, that doesn't seem like a very logical answer.

XXX

Two letters suddenly flamed into Damion's hands, and he grinned, before turning to look at Moonstone and Quinn. "Told ya that they would figure them out quick enough," he said, before handing the two of them the letters, one which was scarlet and the other which was a dark blue, "Although I think one of the pairs got some help."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, "Harry most definitely couldn't solve these just because he's a sylph."

"No," Damion shook his head, "Luna and George. Don't tell me you forgot what they're talents are?"

"We didn't forget," Moonstone snapped, before she calmed down, "Godric, sometimes having somebody who's older than you is a pain the arse."

"But I'm not older than you," he rolled his eyes, "I'm only three hundred years old."

"You sure don't act like it," Quinn chuckled, "You act like a teenager."

"Well you don't act like you're seven hundred and thirty-five years old either," Damion countered, "It all comes down to maturity, but nonetheless, I don't have any."

"That's because you're still mentally seventeen years old."

"True. But you don't have an excuse."

"Enough!" Moonstone finally exclaimed, "You're right, Damion, Luna easily used her talents to find the answer to this," Moon then laughed, "And she said she's not happy about it by saying this, '_**If you really want to try and figure out how smart I am, could you at least give a damn about it**_'. I swear she has more of Mary's attitude than Xeno's or Klara's. Same snappy attitude, same hormonal insults," Quinn looked highly amused at that.

"Dia and Lance aren't going to be very happy with us," Quinn smirked, "They told us not to interfere, for the umpteenth time again."

"But we have to," Moon dismissed, "It all comes down to what _**we **_want. Not them. Hell, if they knew just what we were planning, they would say that the four of them aren't ready yet, but they are. Merlin knows they already had a hissy fit when we discussed what we wanted to do, but really, Lance didn't give one crap about it. He was actually fine with us, up until we were discussing this, then all of the sudden, BOOM! He's throwing a temper tantrum, and he doesn't really care."

"He never cares, though," Damion laughed, and the two of them joined in.

"No, he really doesn't. His personality is a duplicate of Mary's, to be honest. We tried to help her, but it seems that leaving her with you and Xeno didn't help matters much. Not to mention the fact that Scarlet wasn't in any proper shape to take care of them. She hated children, right up until her death. Never understood why, though, they're all so cute!"

"Even in their teenage years," Damion questioned, raising his eyebrows in the process.

"I don't know what the fuss is about teenagers; they're fine when you put some duct tape on their mouths. Then they learn! But no, parents don't follow our ideas, no, no, no!"

"Both of you disappeared for five hundred years, though. And suddenly Dumbledore gets word that you two are still alive, healthy, and prepared to take on the task of dealing with two couples that are Soul-Bound."

"Memories," Moon smiled, before opening up a bottle of Firewhiskey, "I remember when Mary was just a wee little baby."

"Don't try a British accent, it just sounds wrong," Damion suggested, a smirk coming onto his face.

"We are British! We were born in Wales, may I remind you!"

Damion snickered. Sometimes, the two of them were just a big pain in the arse, bickering, kissing, discussing, and then doing it all over again the next day. He honestly didn't know how Dumbledore didn't find any amusement in the couple, because they were right down hilarious. Although, if he had to admit it, kind of insane too. He had figured out both of them lost their minds around the time he was born, or at least the common sense part of their minds, but that was just at the very least.

But still, he enjoyed the company, seeing how he had walked the UK, as it was now called, for around one hundred fifty years, with nothing to do. Well, that had been his fault. The scar was still there, but he had let it happen. Falling in love with Aubrey had been a big mistake that he wasn't going to take the risks of again. But, a deep part of him in his mind was saying that he was in love again.

_**"Ya got it bad son, down to your bones, you know it's hiding inside of you, creating its home. She's got everything you need, everything ya want, but no, oh no, you won't take a damn chance again. Oh no, she's too young ya say, well, she's pretty damn hot, but no, no, no! If ya keep denying it, she's gonna go off and get married eventually, leaving ya behind. So take a chance, show her that you aren't a sick, twisted bastard. Show her what's best.**_

_** "Ya got it bad, ya got it bad, why deny it? But nooooooo, ya won't just face it. Your heart actually thumps more when ya see her, but you won't pay attention to it, although ya should. Maybe it would tell you right from wrong, and to just go for it. You aren't a monster if you don't act like it, kid, so just go for it. But don't listen to me; I don't know what's best, supposedly. Kid, you gotta get your priorities straight before ya accomplish anything."**_

**A/N: And I got the chapter finished! This is probably one of the turning points in the story, although that's all I'm going to stay about that part. Anyways, now you see why Mary doesn't like her parents, and we get a lot of questions with unknown answers! And I never knew why JKR didn't think that Harry would be a wee bit depressed at Halloween; I really thought he would've been. I mean, there's the happiness all around him, while the teachers would probably feel quite a bit melancholy, especially Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. Maybe Harry was just good at hiding what he was thinking in the books to us, I don't really know.**

**Review by Lilykees: Very good chapter. I cannot wait til Harry and Ginny and Luna and George start training with the Lovegoods.**

**Response: Thank you! Well, maybe this chapter answered some of your questions and gave you some more! Thanks for the review!**


	11. Chapter 10: Interlude

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

They didn't know how to help her.

It was clear as day. How could they help the insane? How could they fix a mind broken beyond repair? That was just the thing, they didn't know how. So she was stuck, gazing at the world like it was a movie, unable to do anything. She looked at the broken expression her husband had and knew it was also on her face. When her son and mother in-law came to visit, it was the best thing in the world. At least then, she had a little bit of control, but not much. It was enough, though, in her world, to mean everything.

And so, it was another normal day for her. Walking around the room, hearing people talking but unable to properly understand them, the usual jazz; she had been locked in a tightly knit torture for Godric knows how long. She knew she was insane, broken beyond repair, but still being able to see everything suited her just fine. That was when the usual jazz was interrupted by two people who had sneaked into the room. They were odd, to put it bluntly. She didn't understand why they were here, but they were.

What surprised her more, however, was the fact that she could _**understand **_them. It was slightly muffled, like a radio, but yet she could make out the words instead of the usual mixed-up language she heard every single day from the mediwizards and healers. "_He's too far gone,_" the woman had said sadly, "_We can't help him, Quinn; he's not even there anymore. It's a miracle he's still alive._" Her head turned to see the two next to her husband, and she would've cried if she could. He was gone? Gone? No! She would have cried if she was actually allowed to, but alas, she couldn't.

The two strangers then walked over to her, their eyes filled with curiosity. She wanted to cry for help, afraid of what they might do to her, but she couldn't. A sudden force entered her mind, going past the shattered Occlumency walls, and she tried to fight back, but she couldn't. The force wasn't like that of the Cruciatus or any other Legilimens-types. No, instead it was very warm, and it made her think that maybe it was okay to let it in. "_She's still there!_" the woman gasped. "_We can actually help her! Quinn, this is astounding! A miracle, don't you think?_"

"_It is,_" Quinn agreed, "_But can we help her? You're being too optimistic about this, Moon. What is she thinking? Her husband is in the Next Great Adventure, or at least his soul is. You can't deny it; this very well could go wrong. No other bonded can do this, and yet we are willing to try it. We could wind up making her worse! Don't you think we should think this through at least?_"

Moon shook her head before replying, "_If I think this through I'll agree with you. The boy needs at least one of his parents, Quinn!_" The force then got sharper, slightly painful, before she knew it; the force was suddenly rebuilding her _**mind**_.

Hours could have passed, and she wouldn't have realized it. Memories suddenly flooded into her thoughts; names, people, questions, everything. She blinked a few times, trying to process the things. What had happened to James and Lily? Harry? Sirius and Mary; the list of people just went on and on. What about Marlene? How was Remus doing? How did the Death Eaters find them? How? How! The force then left her mind, and she cried, simple as that.

Neville went for Godric knows how long without a mother and father. Her baby boy, her only son, what on earth had happened? Her whole world had just suddenly taken a turn for the worse that one night. They were in hiding, when Frank heard Bellatrix and her husband and another person barging through their door. He told her to take Neville and _**go**_. She should have gone. She would have been able to. It was all her fault that she didn't go, and now, she had just been healed from insanity.

"Alice?" Moon asked in a sing-song voice, although she had no accent to her voice at all. "Alice, can you hear me? Can you understand me?"

What on earth could she say? That she was fine? She would be lying if she said that, she was far from it. "Yes," she rasped, her voice having been unused for so damn long. "What do you mean Frank's gone? No! What about Neville? What happened? What the bloody hell had happened to us all? Where are James and Lily? What about Harry?"

"Calm down, Mrs. Longbottom," Quinn told her calmly, and she looked at him with bewilderment. "The year is 1995." That was a sickening blow. "Harry is alive." What about James and Lily? "So is Neville." Thank Godric. "So are Sirius and Rosemary." At least they came out of it alive, everybody thought Mary wouldn't have, even the woman herself. "But James and Lily perished on October 31st, 1981, at the hands of Voldemort."

Alice blinked. James and Lily dead; that was just too damn much. Tears poured onto her cheeks like hot rain, now realizing that she threw away everything but her life just because she didn't want to run with Neville. She had been too damn foolish, too damn stupid, and now she paid the price for it. Alice knew she deserved it, but just the _**facts **_were so deafening. Well, Viva La Vida for being an arse, she supposed. She heard a _'pop'_ and supposed that the couple had disappeared, but she didn't care. It was just so much to take in, and so much she had realized was gone now. Frank was actually gone, he was broken beyond repair, and she had been repaired, she supposed.

"Mrs. Longbottom—Oh Merlin," one of the healers gasped. "Somebody get in here! Mrs. Longbottom is—is—I can't describe it!"

Alice put her head in her hands, tears not stopping. She had been foolish, stupid, whatever you wanted to call it; she was that. "I can't believe myself," she hoarsely whispered, "I can't believe what I did. I shouldn't have done it!"

Now, they didn't know what had happened.

One minute, Alice was stuck in her insanity, and the next she was perfectly fine, save for the breakdown she was having. They had checked every inch and ounce of her, while she was still crying, but found nothing wrong with her. The doctors were confused and astounded, but she really didn't care at that point. Alice had turned inconsolable, and the healers had to wind up giving her Dreamless Sleeping Potions to calm her down, get her away from the nightmares she had each time she tried to go to sleep. They also gave her Calming Draughts, but those hardly worked.

She wanted to see her son, but knew that he was probably in school, at his fifth year. When she had the Calming Draught in her, she vaguely wondered how he had been doing. Did he make friends? And if he did, who were they? She wanted to know everything, and anything about what had happened in the outside world, but nobody would tell her. A fortnight had finally passed since she had been _**cured**_, and this was the day she was supposedly allowed visitors.

"Alice?" a familiar voice asked her. "Alice? Godric, this has to suck. At least I vaguely had an idea of what was going on, for Merlin's sake."

"Mary?" she asked in a timid voice, slightly surprised that the other woman would care to visit her.

"The one and only, although I daresay, please don't trust your eyesight when you decide to look at me and Siri here. Narcissa, Cissy, is outside, she's too nervous to come in. She's not dark, Ally, in fact she's anything but. She has a little kiddie now, his name is Draco Black. Harry's well, he's married to Molly and Arthur's seventh child, Ginny. Don't ask me how, it will take too long to explain, but he's well."

Alice actually smiled, albeit rather painfully, and she turned her head in the direction of Mary's voice. Whatever she was expecting, however, it wasn't this. Mary was there alright, but she looked like she was still in their seventh year, and the same went for the boy who she knew was Sirius. Her eyes widened, and she spluttered, "How? How! If this is 1995, you two should look the same age as me! You should have a family by now!"

Mary gave her a sad smile. "Ally, the whole world is just starting to fix itself again. After Voldemort disappeared and left Harry without his parents." Alice couldn't help but wince at the thought. "Padfoot went after Pettigrew, who framed his own death. Alice—Sirius was in Azkaban for twelve _**years**_."

Again, Alice found herself having too much information to take in. Sirius had been innocent! They all knew that he would never betray James and Lily! Pettigrew, the bastard! "Where's Pettigrew?" she asked sharply.

"Dead," Sirius replied. "He suffered the Dementor's Kiss."

Good. He had suffered in the end, just like somebody that could betray their best friends deserved. She held her head in her hands again, not wanting to think about the fact that her whole world was now in ruins. Everything had been perfect, hell; she would have had a perfect life for herself if Voldemort hadn't come along. But no, she wasn't even allowed that. "How is Harry married?" she asked in a hoarse whisper, trying to not let the tears escape from her eyes.

"Soul-bond," Marty answered, "You know the Weasley Twins? Both of them are seventeen now, and George is actually soul-bonded to Xeno's daughter, Luna." But Mary was holding something back.

"What happened to Xeno?" she asked sharply. "And why didn't you mention Klara? Don't tell me they're dead too!" When the two of them shifted uncomfortably, her eyes widened. "They're dead! No! Don't tell me they're dead! I get it that Dorcas, Marlene, and the Bones family except for Amelia and Susan are dead, but Xeno and Klara? No!" She broke down after having just gotten over her last fit of crying, and to be honest, she felt like a child. Everybody thought she wouldn't understand, and she really didn't, but she wanted to _**know**_. "Who else is dead?" she asked in a cold, hard voice.

"All of Marlene's family," Mary sighed, "James and Lily, of course. The other Mary that we know, the whole Potter Clan except for Harry; Klara died from a Potions accident. Xeno died when Luna was twelve from a Yeti attack. I know this is a lot to process and handle, Alice, but you need to pull yourself together." And that was when Alice finally just _**snapped**_.

"Calm down?" she growled, a noise similar to her cat animagus form. "Calm down? Mary, I've just been told that I was insane for fourteen years! Fourteen! My husband's soul has already passed on, and I'm effing stuck with the payback I get for not being there in Neville's life! Godric, if I hadn't seen Augusta in my broken state I would've thought she had perished too! James and Lily died, leaving their soulbound son as an orphan, and if Siri was in prison, I'm guessing you didn't take care of him so he probably wound up with the Dursleys! Do you know how terrible they are? Luna's parents are dead and she's bonded to one of the Weasley Twins, and they were troublemakers and you know it! How am I supposed to calm down when I know that my entire life has been turned upside down and I'm left with the shattered pieces?" Mary and Sirius both looked hurt, but she shook her head. "I'm done talking. I guess I know nothing at all anymore. I'm done!"

They left her like that, mentally repaired but yet still broken, and she cried for the next few days. The healers and mediwitches and wizards were starting to get worried, but she didn't care. She wanted to give up, throw a fit and just curl into a ball and cry, but she didn't do the first two. Most of the time, though, she was in her little ball of protectiveness, trying to accept that all of this had happened, but she couldn't; they had moved her out of the Permanent Wards and into a private room, but she wanted to see Frank, although she knew she couldn't bear to see him in his disrepair state anymore.

Nobody visited her for another fortnight, making it almost a month since Alice had been brought back to sanity. And yet, she still felt insane. The only reason why the healers kept her here was to make sure that she didn't do suicide or that jazz. She refused all visits, even from Dumbledore, and the healers just asked her how she was feeling physically, because they knew what she was mentally feeling. They told her it was natural to be depressed like she was, but she knew that wasn't true. Alice knew that they hadn't expected her to come out of her insanity.

Alice opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in her 'room'. Her previously white hair hand changed to her once dark brown, and her blue eyes, albeit slightly dulled, were still there. But she looked older, she felt older, and she felt miserable. "Worried, much?" asked a humorous voice, and her eyes widened as she turned around, to see nothing. For a second, she had thought Frank had teased her. Oh, she wished this was all but a dream, but it wasn't. It was her damned reality.

This day, though, the healers demanded she accept one of her visitors. She didn't ask who it was, she just told them to send them in, not really caring. When the door opened, she didn't even bother to look at who was there, but soon enough; a girl's cheery voice spoke up, "Mars and Padfoot are pissed at you, you know. They understand, but you really need to lighten up! It is not your fault, besides; I got Moony here too; although he's afraid you're going to yell at him too."

"Tonks," Remus sighed.

"What? You are!" Tonks laughed back, and Alice turned around to look at them.

Tonks seemed to be in her very early twenties, with spiky bubblegum pink hair down to her shoulders and the same very dark brown eyes she had had when she was born. Remus had more grey hair and scars, but other than that he looked like he had before. But yet, Alice couldn't find herself to crack a smile at them. She didn't know if she could smile anymore. Her shoulders slumped, and Alice whispered to them, "I'm sorry. I just don't know anymore. I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to get to know my son, the now unusual jazz. But I can't. Not yet, possibly not ever."

They didn't leave, but she turned back around to stare at the blank wall. She had later learned that the date was November 30th, 1995. Not like she really cared anyways, because there had been so much time in the space between. Alice felt like a lost soul in the midst of everybody's happiness. She heard the door open and close, and knew that they had left. She cried, unable to hold it in any longer. Although, a few minutes later the door opened and then closed, but she didn't know who it was, she might not care anyways.

"Ally?" she knew who it was now, and she did everything she could to not cry, although it didn't work.

"You told me," she sniffled, "You told me it was a bad idea to go into hiding with Frank, and you told me it was a bad idea to trust Dumbledore. I don't know anymore. I should have listened to you, but I didn't. I didn't damn listen, and you knew it. Hell, I knew you were working for them, trying to get us out of danger's way, but there was nothing you could do. How was I supposed to believe a seemingly seventeen year old—boy—who seemed insane and had a taste for trouble?"

He smiled, the bastard. When she had first met him, he had offered her a deal she declined, and he left her at that. But she never forgot those words, "_**Just you wait, Mrs. Longbottom.**_"

She hated him with everything in her now, because things might have gone differently if he hadn't warned her. For all she knew, he had revealed where they were hiding, but she didn't think he knew where exactly they had been hiding at, well, maybe he had spied on them. It didn't matter, though; she still hated him for it. Alice glared at him, but he didn't seem to care until she snapped, "Just go. I don't want to see your sorry ass here."

"Well aren't you cheery," he mocked, but when she narrowed her eyes at him, he sighed, "You're friends won't like me meddling, but I can't help it. My companions meddled in the first place. If it wasn't for them, you would still be insane. I know ya hate me, but honestly, get over the grudge. You can't change the past, or at least that far back, so don't even try to get your false hopes up. If it wasn't for me, both of you would be dead, actually."

"Liar," she snarled. "Liar; get out!"

"No," he said simply, and she scowled at him.

"I'm not going to be treated like a six year old, but you definitely are acting one," she retorted.

He shrugged in response before plopping down onto one of the wooden chairs that really weren't that comfortable, while she had barely moved from her bed that had been in this room, ever since she had been moved here actually. The healers were talking about sending her home, but she didn't have a home to go to. Augusta hadn't visited yet, so she assumed that she was unwanted there. She wouldn't let herself barge in on Sirius and Mary, and she really did not _**want **_to go with this boy, but she couldn't stay here. This was just lovely, although she would have preferred to stay insane over all of this at the moment.

"Alice."

"You have no right to call me by my first name or my nickname!" she said, "If you want to even try to get on my good side, then leave and never come back! I don't want to deal with you sorry piece—"

"Quiet," he snapped at her, and she faltered. "You don't know the half of it. I will treat you like a child if I have to, but I've been on this miserable plane of existence for _**three hundred years**_. Can you imagine living that long? How about being a slave for one hundred and fifty of them? If you want to complain to me about how sorry your life is, then you better rethink it, Mrs. Longbottom! I'm not here to give you some damn pity, and I'm not going to offer anything to you! I'm trying to actually get you prepared for the outside world, but if you don't want me to, all you had to do was ask, damn it! Furthermore, before you complain and rant even more, think about what you have done to your friends! Tonks at least understands some, but Lupin is thinking that maybe you need to be kept here! The Blacks' are pissed at you, and if the Potters were here, I can assure you that Lily would have slapped you right across the face jus because of what you have been saying!"

She glared at him, but didn't say anything more. Alice knew he was right. She was being selfish, stupid, but she couldn't put the blame on herself. She could blame Bellatrix Lestrange, Bartemius Crouch Jr., Rodolphus Lestrange, but not herself. But, she had just passed the crying stage just a few minutes ago, and this time, she wasn't going to let Chaput get away with what he did.

"You ruined my life!" she snarled, and he looked at her, his eyes widening. "I didn't get to see my son get his wand, go to Hogwarts, hell, I didn't get to see him GROW UP! If you want to know what's unfair, TAKE A LOOK AT EVERYBODY ELSE'S BLOODY LIVES! MY HUSBAND ISN'T THERE ANYMORE! MY BEST FRIEND'S SON DOESN'T HAVE HIS PARENTS! MY OTHER BEST FRIEND'S DAUGHTER HAD TO WATCH HER MOTHER DIE AND HER FATHER GO INSANE! IF YOU THINK THAT YOUR LIFE WAS TERRIBLE, RETHINK IT AGAIN!"

He looked at her, his jaw dropped, and she stared at him back, her anger finally having boiling over at him. "I used to be pissed at you," she said quietly, "But I figured it out now. You don't like to think how supposedly terrible your life was, so you blame it on everybody else. Well, newsflash Chaput, you aren't the most miserable person the planet, nor the only one. There are people out there who have been to effing hell and back, so don't give me those excuses. If you have nothing more to say, I suggest you leave. I don't want to hear you whine anymore."

And he left.

But she didn't feel guilty, in fact, she felt rather glad. Alice knew he wouldn't come back, and she didn't want him to. Because honestly, she didn't really want to find out about hardly anything more of this time, of what had happened, at least not anymore. Voldemort was back. She knew that much, as well as the Lestranges had broken out of Azkaban Prison, mainly being put in there because they tortured Frank and herself to insanity.

She still couldn't sleep. Each time she did, she heard the _**screams **_that came from herself and her husband. Each time, she knew that she was going to lose, and each time she knew that it was her fault that she hadn't run with Neville. The screams that she heard were terrible, just like Bellatrix demanding that Crouch Jr. torture them more until she couldn't think straight anymore. How the bitch would know that, she had no idea, but she knew that it was horrible. The healers didn't want to give her anymore Dreamless Sleeping Potions, since you could easily get addicted to those. Not like they really worked that much anyways anymore.

Alice felt like she was still trapped, still trapped inside her mind. A week had passed now. December had rolled in, and she knew she should probably be glad. The Holiday Break would be rolling around, and Neville would hopefully come around to see her. She wanted to hear about how his life had been; she wanted to be filled on every bit and piece her son had done since she wasn't there to witness it. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she was sorry she chose this fate instead of being a proper mother. She knew that Harry was considered the Boy-Who-Lived, and that he might save the entire wizarding and muggle worlds, but Neville was her son. She didn't really mind hearing about Harry's adventures, but she wanted to hear what her son had done, what Neville had done.

She sighed, burrowing her head into the pillow. She knew she was acting like a child, but she didn't want to _**think**_, or at least remember. That just wasn't what she did, or at least not anymore. She didn't want to remember any of this at all. She wanted this to just be an awful nightmare, although Alice knew it wasn't.

XXX

He shook his head, anger boiling at a very deadly rate.

Who the hell did she think she was?

He punched the wall, making the stone wall itself shudder and shards to break off and go flying. He mentally cursed himself for that one, but Damion really did not like her. "Punching walls, now, are ya?" Dia asked in a humorous voice, and he growled in response. "Ooh, who got your knickers in a bunch?"

"Shut it," he replied, and she rolled her eyes.

"Was it me? How about Lance? Oh I know; did you finally get pissed at my grandparents! That seems to be the most reasonable answer! You got pissed at them, Lance now owes me five galleons!" she giggled and he glared at her.

"No, I'm not angry at your grandparents, you, or the little troublemaker. I'm mad at somebody else, now go away," he really didn't want to deal with her right now.

"No," she said simply, "You look like you need to talk about it. So, who got you so mad if it wasn't our insane bunch? It had to be someone you met before, since you're always so collected around everybody else. You were gone for a few days; Moon and Quinn were getting worried. They thought you had done something stupid and wound up killing yourself. You're right, maybe I should go and get them, tell them you're back." She paused. "But you know how tired they get; being Godric knows how old they are, so I think I'll leave them be. Are you sure you're okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Diamond," she flinched at the use of her full name, "I'm fine. Nothing I haven't been through before."

"Liar," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Alright; fine. You want to know? Moon and Quinn ruined a young woman's life by giving her sanity back! Alice Longbottom; she cries all the time, according to the healers at St. Mungo's and she won't take any visitors willingly!" Dia looked shocked at his outburst, and he took a deep breath, calming himself down. "I swear; I'm going to have a few words with them for their reckless behavior. Maybe probation on them, I don't know."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Dia snorted. "They'll just be mad at you."

"It's worth it," he sighed.

"No, it's not. Even though you're probably screwed in the head, more so than they are, I expected you to have at least some common sense. They did a good thing, curing her. The Longbottom boy, Neville, will have one of his parents now. It just takes _**time**_, Damion. You have to know about that. Remember what it was like when you escaped form Aubrey? Moon and Quinn told me you were an emotional wreck until they finally found you."

"Low blow, Dia," he retorted.

She smiled, "But you know I'm right; _**Reparo**_," and the shards from the broken stone flew back into place, fitting back together and sealing itself so that it looked as if it hadn't been broken. "You have to admit it; everybody makes mistakes, including your sorry self too."

"If you're trying to guilt-trip me it isn't going to work."

"Oh, I wasn't. My interests are just rather odd. Well, see you later, Maine." She called out while she was walking away.

Damion sighed, shaking his head. It was like he was in one of those damned muggle soap operas. Too much drama for his taste; maybe he just needed a break from all of this. That would probably be for the best, give himself a break so he didn't finally snap like he just did or worse. . . . But of course, he knew that Moon and Quinn would just try and find him. They didn't exactly understand the position they had put him in when they first met; it was either agree or wind up getting thrown into Azkaban or dying. The latter two options, of course, he really did not want to have happen to him, so he took the first one. But did those options stand for him anymore?

"One more thing, Damion," Dia whispered, and he was surprised she hadn't quite left the room yet, "Don't leave."

He blinked in shock, although other than that he showed no emotion. She could tell pretty much everything that was going on around her, even if she wasn't looking at it. He finally heard the door close, and Damion sighed. Three hundred years. That was all it took to make an unrecognizable touch to him. Well, almost three hundred years. But he didn't have one ounce in him that was like his former self; when he still had a family, that is. As an only child, he probably tore his parents' hearts into pieces when he left, although he hadn't left on purpose. Aubrey did it.

_Don't think about it._

He now slightly understood the feeling Potter's wife had after she had been possessed. It drains you, goes down to your very core; to your very soul. It shreds you apart, leaving you with nothing left except for the memories on how they betrayed you and why they did it. _**"I thought you would be a nice snack, but then you actually turned out to be nice. Too bad that I have to kill you now," **_Aubrey laughed, and he let out an involuntary snarl.

That was just what he needed; to wind up turning into a depressed person all over again. He had convinced himself a long time ago that it wasn't a good thing to dwell on the past, and then BAM! Moon and Quinn just had to go and ruin it, obliterating every careful thing he had laid out. Everything he had convinced himself was just the damn past, and he didn't need to do anything about it. He supposed he thought wrong, but it was a good thing to all of those painful memories under wraps. Keep him from screaming bloody murder at everybody too; that usually worked except when he got mad.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Damion shook his head, before opening up the door and walking out of the room. It was a terrible mistake, but he could eventually deal with the price of it. Just not now, maybe not for a long time; he really didn't know.

But one thing he knew for sure was that Moon and Quinn were still going to be in a hell lot of trouble, no matter what Dia had told him. They shouldn't have meddled in the first place with things he knew would mess up quite a things, and now they were going to pay for it.

Now to plan which pranks he wanted to use.

**A/N: I hate writers' block. On both of my stories, I about had a fit when I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. Anyways, I got the chapter finished! Finally! I didn't want Alice to come into the plotline so early, but if I hadn't, it would have taken me a lot longer to come up with a chapter! I don't like making the characters so dramatic; it reminds me of a soap opera **_**way**_** too much. Poor Alice needs time to heal first, though, she's grieving. Why can't just everybody else see that?**

**This will probably be the only interlude I ever make in this story at least, in the whole series at most. I don't like making them, but I wanted you all to know what had been going on while Harry, Ginny, and the pack are pretty much oblivious to it at the moment.**

**Review by Loveandpower: I agree he should feel something at least at that time!  
Just finished reading the trilogy as it stands and it's pretty sweet waiting excitedly for more chapters!**

**Response: Thanks! Even if he didn't know when they had died, there's always the 'imprinting' of a memory on your brain of a very important day that changed your life, but he knows the date. Here's the next chapter and thank you for the review!**

**Review by Lilykees: Interesting, What are the Lovegoods up to? Definitely a twist to keep us poor readers questioning; I love it.**

**Response: Yes, what are they up to now? Yep, I have even more questions for you guys now! I'm glad you like it so far! Thanks for the review!**


	12. Chapter 11: Holidays

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

The holidays had approached quickly.

Hagrid had returned from his 'break', which turned out to be going with the headmistress of Beauxbatons, Olympe Maxime, to try and make allies with the giants. Unfortunately, though, they had not been successful at all. If anything, the giants had become allies with Voldemort. But, when Hagrid returned, their Care of Magical Creatures class had returned to normal. Except for one of their classes, when the topic of thestrals was brought up; Neville Longbottom and a Slytherin were the only two others in their class that could actually see the creatures, since the only way somebody could see a thestrals was if they had seen death before. It was quite startling, although, not surprising, since Luna and George were the only ones in their group that were able to see them. But, George hadn't seen death before, at least, not directly; Luna had, twice.

Ginny blinked, not moving from the window seat in the compartment when she heard the door open; knowing it was either the other five in the pack or somebody in the DA. There had been a lot going on in the last few months; especially when she had heard the news that had sparked so many rumors among the students: that Alice Longbottom, Auror who had been tortured to insanity, had been cured. Not her husband, but whoever had cured her, had to have been bonded. And there were really only four couples in the world that were bonded. It hadn't been the works of Sirius or Mary, and George and Luna hadn't done it, neither had Harry and Ginny. So that meant the answer was quite simple, that Luna's grandparents had cured Alice. Ginny honestly didn't know what to think about that part; why did they do it was her most important question, though.

She and Harry had gotten the compartment, since Hermione and Ron had been arguing again, and they didn't want to be listening to that. You would have thought that they had learned their lesson, but she supposed it was just in their blood to snap at each other. That, and Angelina had been walking with them; the matters they were trying to discuss were not for anybody else's ears. Yes, they could have used their telepathy, but it was nice to speak out loud once in a while.

The compartment door closed just as soon as it opened, and since she heard no footsteps, she knew that somebody had thought theirs was an empty compartment. Sadly, though, they were mistaken. The compartment was occupied, and no, they weren't snogging. Just a nice silence, although they were both very worried. Sirius and Mary had sent them a letter explaining that Alice would be there at Grimmauld Place, and although she was an emotional wreck, she had agreed that it would be best to get out of 'Mungo's after such a long time of seeing the same room. Ginny suspected that she just wanted a reason to escape the demands of her friends and the healers there, but she could only guess.

The compartment door opened again, and this time she turned her head, and saw George and Luna there, both of them panting while George closed the compartment door. "In other news," Luna shook her head, "Angelina wanted Fred to sit with her, and Ron and Hermione wanted to sit with Neville and some other DA members."

"And where exactly did the running for your life come in?" Harry asked, and Ginny almost giggled.

"It's a long story."

XXX

Ginny looked around Grimmauld Place, and nothing had really changed, except for some pictures hanging on the walls. One of the pictures caught her eye. It was of a couple swinging around in a park, both of them laughing and smiling. The man had the same black, unruly hair that Harry did, except he had glasses and hazel eyes. The woman, on the other hand, had dark red hair and emerald green eyes. They paused for a second, before they both turned and smiled at the camera. Underneath the picture, there was label: _**James & Lily, December 18**__**th**__**, 1979**_. Ginny felt her throat tighten; why did they have to have that picture in here? _It's a way to remember, Gin, Mary's still pretty mad at herself, and Alice isn't very happy at the moment, now is she?_

Harry did have a point; she knew it, but still. James and Lily looked like them, in a way. Happiness amidst a terrifying war, bravery among those who don't know what to do; the picture then replayed itself. "Hello," an unfamiliar voice said cautiously; Ginny noted this woman's voice was full of sorrow, "Are you Harry and Ginny?" Her head snapped up to look at the woman, Alice.

Alice looked at them nervously, as if she was expecting them to snap at her, which she probably was. But Ginny knew that this woman had to have gone to hell and back just to get here, so she wouldn't say anything, and she didn't have anything to say, really. Things happened, although this was a major one, it wasn't Alice's fault.

"Yes," she replied, "You must be Alice. It's nice to meet you."

Alice smiled weakly, before enveloping the two of them in a hug. Ginny was slightly shocked by this, but nonetheless took this as acceptance. It must have felt good for somebody to have company in their life after all these years. It had to be terrible, but then again, Ginny didn't know for sure. But judging by what Sirius and Mary had said in their letter, Alice was majorly depressed. And she could tell now that they weren't lying; like they ever would, minus the part about pranks.

_**BANG!**_

__The clatter made Ginny jump in surprise. "Sorry!" Tonks said, "Wotcher Harry, Ginny!"

"Hi Tonks," Harry greeted while both of them grinned.

"What was that?" Ginny asked.

"I accidentally made the frying pan go flying," Tonks replied, and Ginny giggled, "Clever me. Anyways, how was your school year so far?"

"Good," Harry replied, "Umbridge was bitchy as usual, but other than that, it was good." Tonks snorted, so he added, "And of course, we gave out a few detentions but that was it.

"Did the Twins get any?"

"No," Ginny shook her head, "At least, not from us. Having some fun once in a while is a good thing, especially if it's pranking Umbridge for being so awful."

"Of course," Mary suddenly appeared with a look of severe amusement on her face, "Umbitch is back, run and hide! She'll try to make sure your school years are miserable! It's the end of the world! Everybody flee!"

"Or let the Twins wreck havoc on her," Harry laughed, "But she's still making her 'rules'. She can't really stop us, now can she?"

"No," Mary agreed, "I hate to think on what would happen if she did. Bond magic tends to be very severe when it turns into wandlessly or accidental. Poof! She's gone." Her expression then turned to worry. "Merlin, let's hope that they don't do anything stupid. Is Luna helping them out with their pranks?" When she received nods from the both of them, she smiled again. "Of course; anyways, where are the rest of you?"

"Right here," Hermione huffed, "I don't know how they sneaked inside so easily; hi Mary! Where's Sirius?"

"Probably doing something, I really don't know."

"You don't know?" Luna giggled, "Hi Aunt Mary, by the way."

"It's Mary, no Aunt or Auntie, no Rose," Mary rolled her eyes, "Believe me, I went through that stage of being Rose. It was annoying. Anyways, did you have a good school year so far?"

"Yes," Luna replied, putting her trunk on the floor next to the other three, "Although, if I have to explain further, we put together the Defense Association. Draco, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, Tracey Davis, and Blaise Zabini all joined. Slightly surprising, but good nonetheless; oh! And Umbridge is at her wits end trying to decide who those pranks towards her. She doesn't know who actually did them, though. I think Daddy would be proud. Wrackspurts," was what she ended with, and wrinkled her nose with distaste.

Draco sneaked in, his expression slightly dark because of where he was, but other than that he seemed alright, Ginny noted. He put his trunk down before he went upstairs, not even saying a simple 'hello' to anyone; rude. "Teenagers," Mary muttered, "When you try to be nice to them, they reject you. Except you seven, of course, you're all jut perfect little angels." Her voice was just dripping with sarcasm. "PADFOOT, GET DOWN HERE!"

"Shite," Sirius yelled, and a few moments later he bounded down the stairs, "Hello Ginny, Harry, Luna, George, Fred, Hermione, and Ron! I see Draco's already disappeared. . . . Well, I saw him sulking. Anyways, we've been researching, doing all of that 'stuff'. Nice pranking, by the way. Prongs would have been proud."

"Aren't you proud, Sirius?" Luna asked, "How about Moony?"

"Of course, it's not every day that some pranksters are able to almost rival us," Luna groaned, but he ignored her, "Besides, torture to the toad is always fun!"

A door slammed, causing Ginny to jump in surprise, although she knew who it was. Draco. She was half-tempted to scowl, although she didn't. Harry mentally laughed at her, although she knew he agreed with her. Hormonal teenagers, yeesh; well, she couldn't really say that, being a teenager herself. Harry laughed again. _Very positive thinking, Ginny, although I have to agree; some students, urgh, don't wanna think about that._

_ Of course you don't._

_ Well, do you?_

_ NO! It's just. . . . I haven't met any of them. And neither have you!_

_ Yes we have._

_ I did not need to think about that, Mr. Potter._

_ Okay, Mrs. Potter._

"Harry, Ginny," Luna snapped and Ginny blinked, "Are you two paying attention?"

. . . ._No. . . ._

"I'll take that blank expression as a 'no'," she sighed, "Like I said, Wrackspurts."

XXX

_The door didn't open._

Ginny's eyes snapped open and she gasped. Beside her, Harry jolted into a sitting position, a hand running through his hair immediately. She didn't like this one bit. Out of all the dreams that they could have had, it had to have been this one? Well, it had been reoccurring for quite a while, but still. Maybe it was time to tell somebody, she really didn't know. But then again, if they told anybody, they would have to say that they were having troubles in the first place with their nightmares. She mentally shuddered; Ginny definitely did not want to be told that this was all normal. They had finally decided that the door led to the Department of Mysteries, which was slightly terrifying. Scratch that, it really was _**terrifying**_.

If it was some other door, she wouldn't be as scared as she was. But, the point was, was that it was the DoM, a truly unknown place within the British Ministry of Magic. A lot of things could behind that single door, and she didn't know what Voldemort wanted. If he wanted something in there, what could it be? It would be stupid to think that he just wanted to get in there for no reason at all, there had to be something in there.

Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. The image flashed in her mind, and she immediately opened her eyes. She looked over to Harry, who nodded, and the two of them got out of bed. Something to eat or a glass of water might calm them down. If not, it still wasn't a bad idea. She was not ready to go back to sleep yet.

Five minutes later, Ginny was drinking a mug of hot tea, while she sat on the dining table. Harry was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, while his mind was racing. She was almost getting a headache from it, although she didn't really care. Sleep problems was not a fun thing to have, but it did let her think about what was going on lately, to fully process things. At least nobody else was up; bad dreams usually didn't happen to them anymore.

Putting down the empty mug, Ginny closed her eyes. Now, at least, after having a nice cup of tea, the images weren't flashing through her mind. That was a relief. She didn't want to see the door, or hear and see Voldemort's snake, Nagini. Why that was darned snake there, anyways? Shouldn't it have been at Tom's side? That was a very confusing question indeed, but it wasn't as important as the other one.

Getting off the dining table, Ginny walked over to Harry before they started to walk up the flights of stairs, until a particular light blue-silvery light caught her eye. Turning to look at the room, it was revealed that there was a stone basin in there with Ancient Runes covering it. The two of them walked into the room and over to the basin, which was giving off the light.

"_**Reader of Memories, Basin of Stone,**_" she read aloud, "What does that mean? It sounds like we could see memories?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe; I don't know. It does sound kind of suspicious though. Why would Mary and Sirius have something like this here? Unless. . . ." He trailed off.

_Unless there was something, important, and they're not telling us._

_ That does make sense, but I don't think that's it._

_ So you haven't seen anything like this before._

Ginny shook her head. _No, I've never even heard of it until now. What kind of memories are in there? Maybe we don't want to know._

_ Seriously; ignore the pun; but still, there could be vital information that they're not telling us. It's at our fingertips._

Ginny bit her lip. He had a point. There could be something that they needed to know inside there. And Sirius had said that they had been researching. But what exactly were the two of researching? Did it relate to Harry and Ginny? Or was it completely irrelevant to everything that was going on right now? But how did they extract the information? The liquid—if that was what it was—did not look like it could just be picked up. _You're right; we can't just pick up the liquid. I'd hate to think of what might happen since we don't actually know how to look at this._

_ It's not even a large basin. It looks almost like parchment._

He nodded in reply. The basin was really, really, really thin. Barely an inch in depth; but the liquid made it seem like it could go on forever. Optical illusions for sure; there were nothing remotely similar to a muggle printer next to it. No quills, parchment, ink, nothing. So how did you operate it? _What do the rest of the runes say, Gin?_

"_**Hearth of Blue and Silver, Holder of the Past,**_" she read aloud, before frowning, "That definitely wasn't helpful. But what else could there be? It doesn't even give any instructions! Just some Runes to make it work, I think. I'm not too sure. I could be wrong, though, but that's what the Runes are. Well, it's a rough translation. 'Of' and 'The' don't exist in Ancient Runes." She paused to look at him, and he shrugged again. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

He snorted. "I didn't say anything.

_I believe you said 'Not all that helpful'._

_ Well, it just shows that you really are listening to my thoughts._

_ I always do. But we really need to get back to this._

_ We don't have to; we could just go back to bed. But I don't think that that would be very fun. This is rather interesting. I want to see what memories this has._

_ Of course you do._

A sudden idea came to Ginny. She got up, and Harry grinned, before they both peered over the blue liquid. Nothing happened, so they leaned closer, and then—she was falling. Harry was right next to her, but it was just surprising. It was like falling for an eternity, but yet it still had the effect that made it all seem like it was just a dream, or it wasn't actually real.

_**SLAM!**_

__Ginny hit the ground _**hard**_. The wind was knocked out of her, and a few moments later she sat up, only to be ran _**through **_by somebody. Like she literally wasn't there; that somebody also had a very familiar voice, and was currently shouting, "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! YOU AREN'T MY PARENTS! IF YOU WERE MY PARENTS THEN YOU WOULD ACTUALLY CARE FOR ME AND NOT JUST LEAVE TO HAVE MORE KIDS! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! GO AND CRY IN A CORNER! I WOULDN'T CARE IF YOU JUST DIED!"

She blinked in shock as the girl, who had platinum blonde hair, ran around a corner. A boy, no older than twelve, closed his book and smirked. He had dirty blonde hair and silvery blue eyes. "I told you, _**Mother**_," he almost sneered, "That she would have a fit when you offered to take us to France. And just like I told you, our answer is no. Honestly, you would think that you could have more common sense than Damion does."

A woman appeared next, and she stopped dead in her tracks, before turning to look at the boy. She looked like she could be his sister, but she replied, "Xenophilius Orion Lovegood! Don't you dare take that tone with me! I only offered it because I thought you two were lonely! What would your father say? You know he's at France trying to take care of your siblings!"

"SIBLINGS THAT WE HAVE NEVER EVEN MET!" the girl shouted again, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "HOW IN GODRIC'S NAME AM I SUPPOSED TO LOVE THEM LIKE FAMILY WHEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW THEM? YOU'RE A TERRIBLE MOTHER! I DON'T EVEN KNOW FRENCH! SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM OR THE STUDENTS AT BEAUXBATONS, HUH? YOU DON'T THINK BEFORE YOU ACT—"

She was cut off when a man appeared in front of her, from the blur that had just passed them. "Rosie, relax. There's no need to shout, now is there?" When the girl paused and shook her head, he continued. "Your mother was just trying to be nice. But she should have looked into your common interests first. Now, can you please go upstairs so I can talk to Xeno and then your parents?" The girl, whose green eyes were welling with tears, nodded before she walked away, although she paused at the corner to watch what he was going to say to the woman.

The man then turned to look at the woman and Xeno. He too had platinum blonde hair, but he had no similar facial features to the three of them. What startled Ginny the most were his eyes. They were a dark red, not crimson, but more like a scarlet or mahogany. He clapped slowly, before he said, "I have to say Moonstone Lovegood; you did a good job at getting Rosie riled up like that. You deserved every bit that you got." Xeno snickered. "Don't laugh like that, Xeno, although Rosie got out of trouble doesn't mean that you aren't in any." Xeno's face paled. "Now then, I'm afraid I won't be joining you—at least five in France. Xeno and Rosie are set on not going.

"Congratulations, Moon, you just made an enemy out of your daughter. I'm not even sure if she's going to want to speak to you again. Well, Rosie?" He then turned to look at Rosie.

"Never," the girl declared as she wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her jumper, "I thought Mums loved their daughters and sons, and didn't try to force them into anything. I thought Mums would ask their children about their opinions before they said anything. I thought my mother actually _**cared.**_ But I guess not."

_That's—_

"If you really don't care for me, Mother, then I will be going on my merry way to the library. I'm now over crying for a hope that you'd take me with you. I can see that you never actually loved me like a mother would." And with that, Rosemary left, leaving a shocked Xeno and Moon in the process.

Xeno blinked, before he whooped, "Yeah! That's the younger sister I love! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go care for my sister."

Moon looked at the area where Mary had been, before she sank to the floor, and a moan and a cry escaped her lips. "Idiot, idiot, idiot!" she muttered, "Oh Godric, I'm such an idiot. I should have known not to—"

But whatever she was going to say was cut off when once again the scene changed—they fell again.

"Get off of me, you dog!" Mary snapped, as an eleven year old boy blushed and quickly jumped away from her.

"Sorry, I was just—escaping," the boy answered. He had grey eyes and shaggy black hair.

"Escaping?" Mary asked.

"Yeah," Sirius laughed, "I can't wait to see the bitch's face when she realizes that I got away from her again! Oh, who are you by the way? I'm Sirius Black."

Mary stiffened at the name Black, but then a grin was plastered on her face and she shook his reached out hand. "The name's Rosemary Lovegood. But no Rose! I'm just Mary."

"Nice to meet ya, just Mary," Sirius joked, before he looked up away from her, "Oh shite, I'm really in for it now! If she asks, tell her I died! I don't think she'll believe you, but it's worth the risk, right?" And with that, Sirius ran off in a blur, leaving a stunned Mary behind him.

_Oh Godric! We're in Mary's memories!_

_ Unexpected; oh Merlin, how unexpected!_

A woman with cold black eyes and black hair streaked with grey made her way through the crowd, followed by a boy with grey eyes and black hair, although the hair was neat and not as long as Sirius'. He was currently eyeing Mary with distaste, but he was glancing at his mother with a scared expression from time to time. "You," Mrs. Black snapped. "Have you seen my son? He looks like Reggie here, except he's a darn right brat!"

Mary bristled. "I'm afraid not. You might want to ask somebody else, though, maybe they'll know." And with that Mary walked away, and Ginny and Harry followed her. "Xeno, Damion! Oh Godric, where'd they go," She then snorted, "Probably off to the book shop. Ugh."

_She hated books?_

_ Seems like it._

Mary then spun around, paused, and then went out the door. Harry shrugged, and Ginny nodded. The memory was still going on. . . . Well, the second memory. Just how many of them were there? She had a feeling that this wasn't the last one. . . .

"Do you want a pet, Mary?" Damion asked her, and the eleven year-old jumped.

"I hate how you do that! And no, I don't want a pet. I don't particularly care for the thought of having to care for an owl or cat," her nose wrinkled, "And no toads, either. They're slimy. So, no pets for me, thank you very much."

"Okay then," Damion nodded, "Xeno's just getting something for his owl. I don't really know what."

"Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on him?"

"Yep, but I don't feel in the mood for keeping an eye on him. I'm surprised you found us here. I thought you would think we had gone off to get textbooks."

"I did, you prat."

"Siblings," a woman muttered as she was passing them.

Mary gave a 'goodbye' after that before she once again wandered off. They followed her until she reached an alley that was leading nowhere and she took out her wand. "Blackthorn and Phoenix Feather, huh?" she muttered to herself, "I just had to be a damn misfit, again. Not that it really matters. Sirius seemed nice, though. I hate his mother and brother, though. They are pure-blooded maniacs. Azkaban to all of those purists!" she giggled, before adding, "That's where they deserve to go. Everybody deserves to have magic if they can practice it. Bloody idiots that are what they all are.

"Sirius Black; what to think 'bout him—well, he is nice. Why did he want me to tell his mother that he was dead? Something's not right in that household. But then again, my family isn't all that spectacular either. Mum and Dad are the worst parents in the world and I don't even know any of my other siblings besides Scarlet and Xeno. Dang it, this better not become a habit! That would be a wise decision, blabbing out loud about what I'm thinking with the rest of the first years around!" And with that, Mary ran back out of the alley.

Ginny blinked. Another trait they learned about Mary's childhood was that she talked to herself. It was sort of strange, seeing her as such a young girl. The only time they had seen her when she didn't look like she was seventeen was last year after they had been bonded. It was a strange to think about her looking older, although knowing that the eleven year old was Mary was a strange new subject indeed. It was like staring at innocence with a spark of fiery anger towards most of the world. _A good comparison, _Harry snorted.

_Harry!_

_ What?_

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him but didn't say—_**send**_—another word.

It was amazing at what they had learned so far. She knew that they should probably try to get out of here, but how? It didn't make sense, none of this did. But she went with it. Hopefully there were no terrible blood and gore memories. She didn't particularly want to see entrails on the ground. That would be kind of disgusting. "Nice mental image, Ginny," Harry rolled his eyes, "But you're right. I'm not in the mood to vomit up dinner tonight."

She laughed, and then she noticed that their surroundings were slowly fading to blue. The ground gave out underneath her, and with a yelp, she fell. This was going to take some getting used to if there were more than three memories that were definitely for sure. But what was the next memory? Well, she was probably going to find out in a moment. It just took patience that was all, hopefully, at least. That wouldn't be very fun if it felt like forever.

With a _**thud**_, they landed in a standing position miraculously in a very familiar room, except the students looked very unfamiliar. It was obvious that this was the start of term for Hogwarts. The second years and up were chattering, while Ginny knew that the first years were just outside the door. Turning her head, she saw familiar faces at the Head Table. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Hooch, but that was pretty much it besides a few other professors. What year were they in now? She guessed it was the 1970's, but was it the year that Mary, Lily, and the Marauders began their education.

And then the doors to the Great Hall opened.

**A/N: And I'm cutting it off right there! Another unhealthy dose of writer's block and of course another chapter is finally up! Kind of an irrelevant chapter to the rest of them so far—but that just makes it all the more fun! I've been planning this for **_**ages**_**, since I introduced Mary. And now I brought in the Pensieve! I think one of those would actually freak me out—I don't have a problem with heights or falling, not really, but falling for eternity? Not my kind of thing.**

**Review by Lilykees: Hopefully Neville and Harry can help Alice.**

**Response: Yes, hopefully they can. Alice has made improvements though, but not much; at least she isn't in 'Mungo's anymore, right? That's good news. Maybe Neville will make a guest appearance at Grimmauld Place. . . . Or maybe not! We'll just have to wait and see about what happens next! Thanks for the review!**


	13. Chapter 12: Shock

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

Harry panted as he looked at Ginny, one of her eyes violet, the basin in the middle of them. Godric, Mary went through all of that? And yet she didn't say anything about it?

The third memory, her Sorting, was rather odd at first. For one, Sirius's sorting took a lot longer than expected—almost a minute. He had never thought that there had been that much debate about it—his godfather seemed to be a Gryffindor to the core. And then there was Mary in all of that. She was Gryffindor in an instant, and Xeno's shock was clearly shown on his face. He must have thought that she would have been a Ravenclaw, but the late father of Luna was wrong.

The fourth memory took place in Mary's second year. She was running from four pranksters, although she had noted under her breath that something was strange about Remus—Harry and Ginny snorted at her observation. Although, it had them laughing until their sides hurt when the four Marauders had been looking around, clueless, while she threw four Bat-Bogey hexes at unsuspecting boys; evidently, none of them liked it as she skipped off to another part of the castle, obviously winning that round.

The fifth memory was of her third year, where Lily (which was also shocking to see, in the least) was rambling on about their textbooks and how much of a prat James was. Mary had just smiled at her friend, although it was obvious that she knew the two of them would wind up marrying in the end. And then, she had wound up blushing when Sirius had interrupted their conversation by pushing them aside and shouting at one of the students who had passed them by, Remus. Evidently angry at his friend, he yelled at him that it wasn't any good to be a coward, who caused Mary to look at them suspiciously; it seemed that she had an idea about what was going on.

The sixth one was of Mary telling the Marauders off for being prats, claiming that even though Snape might be bad in some ways, what they were doing was cruel and they themselves deserved to be punished. She had then turned to look at Sirius, pure disgust in her eyes, before smacking him clear across the face and storming off, saying that she didn't even want to look at them anymore, but knew she had to, although she would have rather picked up her things and move to the Ravenclaw House. Sirius had just seemed shocked at what she had said, while Remus and James were looking at the blonde with a mixture of awe and anger.

The seventh one was by far the scariest of them all. Mary had wound up trying to face off a Dementor by _**herself**_. Trying to fire hexes, a Patronus, and galore, but nothing was working. It had looked like she was going to be kissed by the soul-eater, and it was obvious that she was trying to fight a losing battle. And of course, that was when they heard the _**laughing**_. Past the Dementor, a group of Death Eaters, clothed in their robes, mask, and all were enjoying watching the fifteen year old suffer. The Dementor then got close enough and they were met with a terrifying sight that Harry had experienced before; a Dementor trying to suck out your soul. Finally, when it pulled away, a glowing orb of dark blue and light purple was there instead of the usual light blue one. The Dementor then screeched before it flew away, and the orb went back into Mary's mouth before she let out a gasp. Seeing this, the Death Eaters fled, obviously frightened at what they had seen.

The eighth one was where Sirius was actually trying to land a date with Mary, but she obviously didn't want to hear about it, her expression of resentment as she told him that she would never date a boy 'who was stuck in an ignorant childhood', before she walked away, and although she didn't cry, it seemed as if she really hadn't wanted to say that. Harry had never seen that side of her—she just seemed to crash in on herself, like a kid who just got rid of their sugar rush. It was truly a weird sight.

The ninth one (out of eleven) contained a kissing Mary and Sirius, while the rest of the Marauders and Lily were snickering in the background while the happy couple remained oblivious to the world. Another girl with brown hair and green eyes was smirking at them while a black haired and blue eyed girl was openly laughing, clutching her sides. The first girl was 'Mar-Mars' while the other one was Marlene. Mar-Mars, or Mary, as Lily called her, seemed to be literally about to burst with laughter while Marlene seemed to not even have any shame. When the two finally pulled apart, all Sirius said, "Well, Rosie, it's about damn time." Everybody in the Common Room laughed at that while Mary smiled and told him to never call her Rosie again.

At the tenth one, it was the one that Sirius had told them about. Two red-haired, brown-eyed brothers were battling in an epic fight with Death Eaters, while Mary and Sirius were almost literally ripping the unsuspecting ones apart with just simple flicks of their wands. Ginny had let out a small cry when she saw her two uncles both hit with twin rays of sickly green light, both of them hitting each square in the chest. Mary turned her head for a moment before she let out a scream and almost completely abolished the rest of them, while Remus was taking Gideon and Fabian's place. It was like what a battle from hell would have been.

After that, however, they were thrown out of the basin, both landing roughly on their feet, which was where they were now. Honestly, he didn't know that Mary kept that many secrets. Harry knew she didn't like to talk about her past, and they knew that she had to have had a rough childhood. . . . But this was taking it to the extreme. He wanted to ask her questions, why she kept her past such a secret, what else was she hiding, and most importantly, how well did she know his parents? It seemed like Lily and her were best friends, and she had a love-hate relationship with Sirius, James, Remus, and Pettigrew. Did she suspect something from the smaller boy? Did she know that he would one day betray his friends? Was there some kind of special power she and Sirius had? Or were they in a way, normal like George and Luna?

_I think we should go back to bed._

It was a mutual agreement between the two. Harry just wanted to go back to sleep and not have to think about this for a while. It was a lot to take in. And with that, the two of them quickly walked out of the room, careful to not make a sound, before going to their room and climbing back into bed. Both of them were out within seconds.

XXX

That morning, the two teens, least to say, they were barely able to keep their shock in check. It was a blow to the heart. But, if they acted like that, Mary and Sirius would have thought that something was up, so the cover-up was called for.

As usual, a sulking Draco was just picking at his breakfast, while Ron was once again shoveling food into his mouth, with Hermione eyeing him disgustedly. Luna seemed to be in a foul mood while George and Fred were cracking jokes, and Tonks of course had to show up for breakfast, sporting her spiky bubblegum pink hair. Narcissa was looking at her only child worriedly, while Sirius and Mary were chatting with Remus and Arthur about something inside of the Ministry, although as soon as they walked in, Sirius only took a glance at them before putting up a Silencing Charm. Evidently, it stopped them from hearing about what was going on, much to the displeasure of Harry and Ginny.

"'Morning," Tonks grinned, although it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Harry silently wondered why, although he was slightly distracted when Molly put a loaded plate down in front of him, and she did the same for Ginny, knowing their appetite. But at least they didn't eat like Ron. Harry mentally shuddered. That would just be—terrifying, _**and **_slightly amusing.

_Thanks for the lovely visual, Harry._

_ Hey!_

_ Of course you have to think of something when I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast, thank you very much, although it is slightly funny, it's disgusting._

_ I didn't exactly ask for your opinion._

_ Prat!_

_ At least we don't bicker like Ron and Hermione do._

_ . . . . Good point. I think I would be mentally insane if we fought like they did—arguing over nothing and twenty four hours a day!_

The corner of his mouth twitched but he didn't do anything more than that.

"Oh shite," Tonks cursed as soon as she picked up the day's edition of the Daily Prophet, now ignoring her breakfast, "The toad has made a statement about your problem, Harry, even though she doesn't know that it's you." And with that, Tonks handed the paper to Harry, while Ginny read it over his shoulder.

_**UMBRIDGE MAKES STATEMENT ABOUT BORN ANIMAGUS**_

_**BY KALEB J. ADRIAN**_

_**The last article of mine on the born animagus has spiked up some attention from the Ministry of Magic itself, including the Head Inquisitor, Dolores J. Umbridge, who works as the Defense against the Dark Arts Professor and representative at Hogwarts, as well as some other Ministry officials. "It can simply not be tolerated," Umbridge stated when interviewed, "A danger to our young students who are eager to learn is unacceptable. Why Headmaster Albus Dumbledore says that this information cannot be shared to the public is no good sign at all, either. If anything, it is very. . . . Frightening, knowing this student could harm others!**_

_** "Furthermore, if this student is allowed to wreck havoc on the school, we could wind up having a very bad reputation to other countries!" When she was asked about the known prodigy of her time, Ginevra 'Ginny' Potter, nee Weasley, Umbridge stated this, "A prodigy is acceptable! It is a shame that she had to be bonded to the last Potter alive, especially with his ramblings about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named being back! But no matter, her gift is certainly the best thing that has happened to the adolescents at Hogwarts in a very long time!"**_

_** So now we're playing the back-and-forth game? We call Mr. and Mrs. Potter insane and then praise Lady Potter for being a prodigy? While I must admit—having a beast like a born animagus on school grounds is terrifying, shouldn't he or she be allowed an education? That question came to light when we asked Madam Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Law Enforcement, she told us, "All children deserve an education, no matter their species, blood rank, or anything else. If we do not allow them to have an education, then where will we have our aurors, magical creatures dealing association? Even if they are going to be—discriminated in our world, punishing a child for becoming something they didn't want to become or their heritage is inexcusable!"**_

_** Very good points, Miss Bones; all children do deserve an education. But, alas, there is yet another good valid point that Rufus Scrimgeour, head of the Auror sub-Department made. "If something dangerous, monster, dark wizard, or not, they should be put at ease. If we let this child run amuck the school where all of our children go to, what are we saying to the rest of the world? That we do not care if our children wind up dead or not? Yes, every child deserves an education, but is it worth it to put it at the cost of our own children?"**_

_** I'll let the rest of you decide your stands on this. But for now, I'll be collecting more information.**_

Harry threw the paper onto the table with disgust. How dare they? Did they know all what had happened in his life? No! But, at least this Adrian guy was slowly drifting away from Riddle's influence—in a way. The man, in Harry's opinion, was more like Tracey Davis than anything else—under all those wraps he was smart, cunning, and knew how to make certain deals and find all of the loopholes in them without getting killed. It might not be a good thing, but at least he knew how to bring news to the public; overall, he was nothing like Rita Skeeter.

The rest of the pack, including Draco, now looked at him curiously, waiting for a comment. But all they got was, "So, the bitch has decided to try and manipulate her way into the game."

They gave him confused looks and Molly scolded him for his language, but meanwhile, Tonks and Ginny were roaring with laughter, both of them because they knew how manipulative Dumbledore could get sometimes. But even Molly had a small smile on her face at his comment, but the Toad really was nothing more than a pompous, manipulative bitch. This caused Ginny to laugh even harder while Harry snickered quietly. Ron, Hermione, and Fred still gave them confused looks while George and Luna had seemed to catch on, and both of them were now laughing loudly too. "What's so funny?" Hermione asked, but Luna leaned in to whisper what was going on. Hermione just paled and asked him, "Do you really think that?"

"Y-y-y-yes," Ginny replied, stuttering from trying to contain her laughter. "You have to admit, it's funny! The Toad wants fire and we'll give her fire! She has five other animagi that she doesn't even know about! It's perfect!"

"And," Harry grinned, "She has a very deadly wolf on her hands too, she just doesn't realize it." Hermione, Ron, and Molly all looked horrified at that thought. He rolled his eyes. "Relax. I'm not going to do anything to her. I'll let the twins and Luna does that," Their expressions went more horrified, if it was even possible.

"Pranks are called for once in a while," Luna said wisely, although she burst into another fit of giggles as soon as she said it.

"Honestly Harry, you're a prefect! You know your responsibilities," Hermione sighed.

Harry shrugged in response. "Responsibilities, ha; the Toad has basically stripped us of our responsibilities of taking care of the school, she's made it so all of the 'bad Slytherins' are in charge of us, and let me _**remind **_you, the DA is technically breaking all of the rules she's set so far. So if you don't mind, I think I can say anything I want about her."

"If only you could say that to the bitch's face," Draco smirked while Molly and Narcissa scolded him for his language, "Oh come on! The Toad deserves to be called that! Anyways, can you imagine her expression if she heard you say that? 'How dare you! You should be sentenced to Azkaban for the rest of your life!' As if the rest of the world would allow you two to be locked up, even if you are a born animagus. The head people of the MoM, not including Bones, are all being bribed to say those things." And with that, Draco went back to picking at his breakfast.

"It's true," Luna said, "The rest of the world, mostly, does not like our Ministry at the moment. Remember what Fleur said? Her parents play a major role in the Ministry in France, and at the moment, they are secretly supplying the Order with people while getting other countries to help us out, like Holland. The recruits from there are coming today, as well as some of the vampires! And we all thought that they actually wouldn't want to side with us! Although," she added thoughtfully, "I think I know who was up to that."

"Who," Ron asked.

But Luna dismissed him by saying, "Just somebody I knew from my childhood. You wouldn't know him." And she didn't say anything more.

After another few minutes, the Silencing Charm was lifted, and Mary sighed, "Yes, I suppose that's true. We got a big mess on our hands now, don't we?" But nobody answered her.

"Found anything on born animagi?" Harry asked in a humorous voice, and she groaned in response.

"You were betting it would be a 'no' and it is! Dang it, it's like nobody was like you! You're pretty much the only case on records."

George narrowed his eyes at the two, but didn't say anything else. He knew something, Harry was sure of it. Meanwhile, Luna started giggling again, but whatever he was thinking, it was clear he wasn't going to tell anybody about it. Harry was starting to notice family similarities—both Luna and Mary kept too many secrets for their own good. And as such, George and Sirius held onto those secrets too, but it was just enough to almost drive him insane. Although, he silently wondered what Luna's excuse was, besides the fact that she saw both of her parents dead. . . .

When breakfast was done, Arthur headed off to work, since he only had the mornings off until Christmas Day. Then he would have complete days off until New Years'. He had always thought that the Ministry overworked the patriarch, but he never said anything to the rest of the Weasleys, although Ginny knew that he was right. Her father worked too much at the MoM for money that just barely covered enough of the expenses they needed for their children, even with four of them still living at home during the summers. Well, George and Fred would move out that summer, wanting to start their joke shop, but still.

They heard the fireplace roar to life before somebody shouted out, "Hello! Is anybody home?" The American accent was very thick, although Harry knew who it was immediately.

"We're here!" he said loudly, before a silver-blonde haired and blue-eyed woman stepped into the kitchen.

"Oh, hello," Fleur smiled, "Nice to see you all again; Ron, Hermione, George and Luna, Fred, Draco, Narcissa, Molly, Sirius and Mary, Remus, Dora, and of course, Harry and Ginny." Surprisingly, she was able to say all of that slow and in one breath.

"Fleur," Luna grinned, "Where have you been?"

The part-Veela laughed. "Here, there, everywhere. I've been to the Yanks, no offense intended, to the Aussies, Russia, meanwhile trying to find a job here. I don't want to be the spokesperson for the Order anymore." She pretended to pout. "Anyways, I have some good news! Very good news, in fact," Fleur seemed awfully giddy, and a huge grin was on her face.

"Well, what is it?" Ron asked, although right after he said that the sound of the fire roaring to life came into the kitchen.

Who came into the kitchen next was Bill. With his red long hair and fang earring, he also had a grin on his face. Harry suspected something had to do with them. . . . And then he saw it. On Fleur's left ring finger was a gold band with a sapphire gem—an engagement ring. Bill and Fleur were getting married. "Well everyone," Bill said, his voice tinged with nervousness; "Fleur and I are getting married." Everyone, except for the three bonded couples in the room, froze.

Fleur smiled at them, although he saw that her eyes were filled with fear. That was until Molly put down the dish she was carrying and pulled her son and soon to be daughter in-law in a hug. That snapped the rest of them out of their trances. The fork Draco had been holding dropped onto his plate with a clatter, while Hermione smiled and Ron's face went pale. Fred's grinned then mirrored George and Luna's while, Remus smiled. Tonks, although she smiled, she turned to look at her plate. Something was up right there, and his thoughts were proven when Mary gave a sympathetic glance towards the pink haired woman.

"Congratulations!" Luna smiled.

When Molly stepped back, Fleur was smiling, although rubbing her ribs slightly from her bone-crushing hugs. "Thanks," the part-Veela replied, before pulling Bill into a hug, although Harry knew it was nowhere as tight as Molly's. "We won't have the wedding until about a year and a half from now. You two," she pointed at George and Luna, "Will get married this summer. And you have no choice in the matter." Everybody laughed as the dirty blonde and red haired couple went an almost beet red.

"You would think that we would have some say," Luna grumbled, which got them all laughing again, save for Molly, "But we've only been engaged for two years! I know some people aren't going to marry until the war is over."

"Oh, don't use that excuse. Nobody except for the Order and a few other people know that there's a war going on and that Voldemort is back. At least, not in Britain," Fleur snickered.

XXX

The saying 'happy anniversary' did not matter to the snogging couple at the moment, although it was well past midnight, Harry and Ginny didn't care.

They hadn't really been able to do anything romantic for the past few months, or the summer, so their snogging like there was no tomorrow was called for. Harry knew that if her brothers, minus the Twins and Percy, saw, they would have thrown a fit. Although Ron had been getting better since he knew that he had no say in the matter, that it was better than just not doing anything; but there could still be relapses.

Both of them came up for air, their faces red, although unlike most snogging coupes that had been doing it for as long as they had, their lips weren't chapped.

It was Christmas Eve, sparking their one year anniversary since they got the mental link and since they had gotten married. It was also the one year anniversary since both of them got the best gift they could have ever asked for at the moment; finding out they really were meant for each other. While most girls Ginny's age dreamed of finding their true love or marrying somebody rich and famous (Harry, for example), she had everything she had ever wanted. Both of them knew that when they first saw each other, something just sparked inside them, as if they hadn't seen each other in a really long time, even though the halves of their soul had never met.

Within a few minutes, they were back to snogging again.

Harry had wished that he had gotten to know Ginny sooner; he wished that he could've learned everything about her in the friends' way besides being his girlfriend or the telepathy. They could've learned so much more about each other. Really, although he had been there for Ginny as a pack member after the Chamber incident, other than that, he wasn't. Ron had always made it seem like that his sister was a helpless girl, but in truth she wasn't. She was a Gryffindor to the core, but was also the second 'Alpha' ever since she had joined the trio. Yes, Ron and Hermione had seemed like they took up that position, but overall, Ginny had better leadership skills then the two of them. And his inner wolf had recognized her as his 'mate' a long time ago; Harry just didn't want to admit it,

_Of course you didn't. Would you imagine Ron's reaction if you went up to him and said, "Hey Ron, your sister is destined to be my wife." How do you think he would have reacted to that?_

Harry would've snorted, but he knew she was right. Ron would have not reacted well. Probably all of the Weasleys wouldn't have, since it was before George and Luna bonded that it had happened. To put it bluntly, it would have been a disaster. Probably even worse; no, he knew it would have been worse than just a simple disaster.

Both of them finally collapsed onto the bed, gasping for breath, their faces even redder than before, although happiness was seen easily in their eyes. At the moment, Umbridge didn't matter. Nor did the fact that Harry was a born animagus matter, or quite a few truths hidden from them; they were just enjoying the fact of being alive and not having to worry about anything else. Ecstasy could come in handy at times, although it didn't always.

And nobody could deny that they were in love.

Harry felt Ginny snuggle closer to him. _What do you think will happen? _It was something that they had discussed a thousand times and over, but it was still a very ominous thought.

_ I don't know._

XXX

_Destruction lay before them._

_ A hollow laugh came from behind Harry and Ginny, as the man said, "Of course. The silly little people had to underestimate me. Well, we showed them, and tonight, you may feast upon the dead and their children." Voldemort told a man with graying hair, yellow eyes, and a nasty grin; Harry felt his hair stand on end._

_ "Yes m'Lord," the man smirked, "It would be my honor. . . . I just love the little children, especially the younger ones."_

_ Voldemort nodded, although he didn't smile. "If only the Potters were here, and that Lovegood girl and her—__**lover**__," he spat the last part, as if it was something that was entirely disgusting, "But of course, they are not. I'm in the mood for some poultry." Harry almost screamed, even though he knew it would be no use, when the Dark Lord said that. "No matter, you will still have your feast. Off with you then! I do not wish to lose one of my servants anymore." And with that, the werewolf ran into the night._

_ A woman with white hair and blue eyes looked at Tom, a gruesome grin on her face. She looked to be almost like a doll, especially with her black Victorian Dress, although something was off about her. "When shall it be my turn, Lord?" she asked, her grin widening and it revealed two fangs. "I so desperately want to greet Damion. We haven't seen each other in so __**long**__. Maybe I'll greet his little whore too." She giggled, which was a creepy sound._

_ "Soon," Riddle answered her, "When we have the fool dead, then you shall feast like Greyback and be able to hunt the traitor down. But not until then; let him and his companions have a false sense of security. Then you can catch them by surprise easier. You can kill them quicker too."_

_ She nodded, before turning around, Harry and Ginny following her as she walked into the woods. In a sing-song voice, she said, "Damion Maine Chaput, I'm coming for you. Damion Maine Chaput, do you wanna be killed? Damion, Damion, Damion, you're gonna pay for what you did, you filthy little bastard; I thought you were mine, but I'm not going to be fooled again. You deserve what's coming towards you, ya know!"_

_ The woman then turned to look at something in the woods, although evidently she saw nothing. Nodding her head, she walked to a cliff, to see the Dark Mark over the town of Xavier. It used to be an almost wizarding town in Canada, but now, it was nothing more than fire, ash, and the smell of dog. She wrinkled her nose, and Harry glared at her. Who was she? He heard the screams of children in the dead night, smelled the blood, even though it was about twenty feet under them, and definitely heard the howls of a pack of werewolves. He shuddered, thinking of how many children would lose their lives if they had survived through the fire and smoke. How many would end up like Remus. How many would be sentenced to a life of hell; kidnapped to become just like the people who bit them._

_ Life was really unfair, but sadly, nobody had a choice of what happened to them. He could hear Ginny muttering under her breath, saying quite a few things that he didn't want to repeat, although he felt the same way. Furious at Voldemort and his Death Eaters for destroying lives. Furious at the world for not doing anything about it; and most of all, furious at how much Tom Marvolo Riddle could accomplish with the British Ministry not doing anything._

_ The woman smirked, "Finally, I can watch the lives of muggles, mudbloods, blood traitors, and half-bloods be destroyed. Maybe I can go home soon enough." And with that, she left the scene, running like a blur through the forest, leaving the scene of chaos behind her._

_ Harry wished that she would just be killed, but alas, he knew that that probably wouldn't happen, if she was one of Voldemort's most trusted Death Eaters; part of the inner circle. She would be heavily protected by the lower ones, probably more than the Lestranges and Lucius Malfoy since she was a vampire and could take more lives in a minute than a werewolf could._

_ He hated her to the very core already._

**A/N: Hello! Another chapter! I would've posted this yesterday—but I got heavily exhausted and needed to 'catch up' on my sleep. I'm still tired. . . . Anyways, if you know who the woman is, then yay! It shouldn't be too hard. . . .**

**See ya next chapter!**


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